The Witness
by Marc D
Summary: Even when Xander feels as though his life can't get any worse, he saves someone...only to find his life more complicated than ever
1. Default Chapter

Title : The Witness

Author: Marc D.

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy or Stargate SG-1 (it's short but concise)

PROLOGUE

Xander had been driving for hours. The depression he felt was almost all consuming. He had hurt someone that he fully and truly cared about, someone that he loved. He may not have harmed her physically, but he may as well have killed her emotionally.

If the guilt of leaving Anya at the alter was slowly, and painfully, destroying him, he could only imagine what it would be doing to someone like her. Would she still be crying? Perhaps she would be calling out for Vengeance.

'She'd be deserving of it.' He thought morosely while driving in a daze. 'And I'd be deserving of receiving it.'

Sure, he had his reasons. He had all but lived an entire lifetime within those visions. Everything was so real. He had grown up in a relationship that he considered worse than his 'parents.' And that was saying a lot.

To him it was much worse. As far as he knew his mother, and father, had always been faithful. Drunks perhaps, well, drunks definitely, but faithful nonetheless. Even worse than the resentment he had felt coming from the visionary version of his Anya was his reaction when the final curtain call came.

He had killed her. He couldn't believe he had hit her with the frying pan like that. Even though it had been in a vision, the emotions were real to him. They were real inside of him.

As much as he wanted it to be untrue, when he saw her, he could still feel those emotions playing havoc within him. So he did the only thing he could think of. He ran. He ran to make sure that she would be safe. And in the process he may have killed her emotionally. And that thought was killing him as well.

His self inflicted depression began to slowly boil into anger. Before long the top had boiled over and he was brimming with pure rage. Rage at himself, at the world, at the Gods themselves. He wanted nothing more than for this to all be over.

xxxxxxxxx

It was the extremely bright and colorful lights that brought Xander out of his daze and into the land of the conscious. 'Oh crap! I hope I didn't hit anyone.' Truth be told, he knew that his reaction timing from fighting for so long would have made that an improbability, but his ability to worry about anything and everything was still strong within him.

When he finally took stock of all the pretty lights he realized something. 'What the hell? When did I get to Vegas?' He must have been driving fast, and for a while now. He knew that because his stomach was telling him that, like his car, he was riding on empty.

'Hmm, alcohol or food? Alcohol or food? Hey! I know, how about Alcohol as food?' He smiled to himself. 'That's a great idea self! Thanks!' He shook his head. Perhaps he should get to the alcohol quicker if he is already starting to talk to himself. 'Another great idea! Thanks Again!'

He needed Alcohol, and he needed it now.

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He had wanted to get totally smashed. He was allowed, wasn't he? But he wasn't drunk, a little tipsy might be understating his current condition a bit. Let's just say that he wasn't feeling any pain right now.

He was walking along the street, more like stumbling along the street, and attempting to enjoy the nightly breeze that was washing against his face. He was beginning to go back into his introspective thoughts when a cry of utter shock laced with a good deal of fear pierced the night air.

From years of mental and physical conditioning, the alcohol that was impairing him was temporarily displaced leaving him as lucid as could be expected.

He was running, yet still stumbling, towards the vampire that had a woman pinned against the wall. She was struggling with all her might and no longer screaming. He pulled a stake from where he had it tucked under his shirt and charged the vamp.

Sensing him at the last moment, the vampire turned slightly. Xander cursed his luck. He no longer had an open line on the heart. Instead of stopping, he simply plowed into the vampire.

Using its speed and strength, it smashed Xander into the brick wall of the alley. With a loud crunch, Xander hit the wall before it began to rough him up a little. It was pure instinct and luck, for all conscious thought had left him moments before, that allowed Xander to place his stake in a strategic position. Had he been able to think about it, the fact that he still had the stake clutched in his hand would have been beyond him.

The vampire moved forward to drain the pesky human that had disturbed its meal. With a little help from Xander, the vamp had impaled itself onto the stake turning itself into dust along with the stake.

Due to the alcohol and probable concussion, Xander never noticed the attractive woman with short blonde hair. He simply began to limp his way out of the alley. He was so out of it that he never noticed the man walk past him calling out, 'Sam!'

He didn't notice any of this as his world became dark, and the sweet embrace of unconsciousness overtook him.

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Colonel Jack O'Neill, of the United States Air Force, strolled past some drunk kid. 'For cryin' out loud, everyone is drunk in this city. Wait…why aren't I drunk?' He shook off the thought as he approached Carter, Doctor Major Samantha Carter with a PHD in Astrophysics. His steps faltered as he noticed her expression that was intently following the man he had just past. It was comparable to the first time someone saw the Stargate go active.

This gave him pause. Did he do something to her? He didn't think so. He would bet good money that she could beat the crap out of that guy when he was sober, let alone while he was drunk. Still, that expression coming from her was quite unnerving.

"Carter, you ok?" There was no response. "Christ Carter! You look like someone told you that Apophis really was a god!" He tried to put some humor into his voice, but she was really beginning to freak him out. Luckily, that little comment brought her partway out of her hypnotized stare.

"S-Sir…He, he, I mean. I"

Oh crap, this was not good. Carter never stutters. "Carter!" he snapped. This seemed to gather more of her attention. "Did that man accost you?" His voice became progressively darker as he finished that statement. No one messed with his teammates.

If it were at all possible her eyes became even wider. "No!" She almost screamed it. "He saved my life!"

Jack looked around the alley. "Saved you from what?" He glanced around once more. "Where the only ones here."

She glanced in the direction the pile of dust had settled. "I don't know sir." She heard a muffled thump and looked toward the mouth of the alleyway where Xander was now lying on the pavement.

"Sir, whatever it was," That got a strange look from him. "He'll know whatever it was." She was pointing to the now unconscious form. "We have to help him." There was almost pleading in her eyes. "He saved me and because of that he was forcefully shoved into the wall!"

With a sigh he went to check on the young man. He needed to calm Carter down. He had never seen her like this, and it was quite unsettling. The man was out cold, most likely a concussion, if not alcohol induced.

Pulling out a cell phone he called Doctor Janet Frasier. 'Damn she's going to be pissed. We're supposed to be on vacation. She wanted to spend more time with Cassie.' As Janet's voice could be heard over the small speaker of the phone, Jack couldn't help but think, 'Hammond is not going to like this at all.'


	2. Ch 2

Major Carter stood there, leaning against the brick wall of the casino that lined the alley way. Taking some deep calming breaths, she was able to take hold of her emotions. The gentle breeze of the night air served to calm her nerves to an even greater degree.

Glancing down at the pile of dust that was once a, well, something, her eyes became transfixed on the last remains of the pile floating away in the breeze. And just like that, almost all evidence that anything had happened was gone.

She brought her attention towards the mouth of the alley. Colonel O'Neill was giving a cursory inspection of the unconscious man. With determined steps she began to make her way towards her CO. Almost all evidence of anything happening was gone, but not everything.

This man had saved her, and she was grateful for it. She only hoped that he could answer some, more like a lot of, questions. But first things were first, and they needed to make sure he was ok. Whatever that thing was, she had seen it get in a few good punches while her rescuer's back was against the wall.

O'Neill had just put his phone away and was giving Xander a cursory inspection. He looked up when he heard Carter's footsteps approaching.

"How is he, Sir?"

"I think he just has a concussion." He looked back at the unconscious man. "Any alcohol he consumed probably didn't help. If he has any further injuries it'll be the Doc who does the prognosis." He glanced back up at Sam to see her nodding in agreement.

"Can he be moved, Sir?"

"Yea, and Janet said that if I thought he could be moved, I should bring him to her so she can take a quick look before we go."

Carter looked at him in confusion. "Sir?"

Jack gave a quiet chuckle. "Apparently Doc. Frasier decided to bring half of the infirmary with her when she decided to come along with us on our little 'group vacation.'"

"Yes Sir. But, where are we going, Sir?"

"Major, you were just attacked by a" He paused to think up a proper term. "An unknown. I'm not sure if you were a specified target or if it was random." He looked her dead in the eyes. "But this all just wreaks of the NID to me. So, it's time to pack up campers because this vacation is officially over."

Sam simply nodded her head. "Yes Sir. I completely agree with you. But, where are we going?"

Jack looked up and smiled at her. "Well, we are in Nevada, How does Groom Lake sound?"

"Area 51, Sir?" She leaned in and whispered to him so that no one else would overhear.

He looked back down at Xander's still unconscious form. "Yep, Doc said they have a proper medical facility on base, better than your average hospital. Plus, if need be, we can get immediate transportation back to Cheyenne."

"Very good, Sir."

Looking back up at her, Jack spoke. "Come on Major; help me bring this guy up to see the Doc."

The two of them made short work of lifting the unconscious man and were heading towards the lobby of their hotel. About ten steps into their journey Jack let out a muffled curse.

"Sir?"

"Damn betting pool. I had my money on 2 days before something happened to ruin our vacation." He was glad to hear Carter quietly snickering beside him. He had been worried that whatever had happened would have left an adverse affect on her permanently. But, she wouldn't be Carter if she let that happen.

"I had 2 and a half days myself, Sir."

He gave her a small smile. "Ever the optimist, Carter?" She gave a small smile in return. "I wonder who had 4 hours as their bet."

"I'm not sure, Sir. But, from what I heard, the money should be enough to retire on."

He gave his own little chuckle. 'Yep, she'll be fine.' There was definite relief in that thought.

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They had made it up to Janet's room with little incidents. Apparently this wasn't the first time an unconscious man had been carried through their hotel. And in Vegas no less! Go figure.

Janet opened her door while stepping aside to allow them entrance.

'Holy crap! She really did bring half of the infirmary with her! God I hope she didn't bring any needles with her.'

They brought the man over to the bed and laid him gently on it. Jack rolled the man onto his side for a moment. After retrieving the man's wallet and identification, he walked into their adjourning room and closed the door. He had some phone calls to make.

'Hammond really isn't going to like this.'


	3. Ch 3

Part 2?

Moments before Colonel O'Neill went into the adjacent room to make his phone call, another scene was playing out in another location entirely.

Deep within Cheyenne Mountain General George Hammond sat at his desk while going over paperwork. This may not seem like such an important scene that is being played out, however that could not be further from the truth.

It was now rounding on 4 hours since SG-1's official vacation began, and not one disturbance had transpired in that time. The base that was the home to the Stargate was still buzzing with activity, as with all military instillations. However in the past 4 hours there had not been any major, world ending, and headache educing disruptions.

General Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. Don't misread these signs. Hammond felt as though each and every member of the SGC was a part of his extended family. He would do anything for them. In return, many would, and have gone above and beyond any normal call of duty for him.

There was another sigh of relief as he looked down at his watch. 'Another two hours and I'll be able to put my grandkids through college.' That pleasant thought brought a smile to his face.

It was a smile that quickly faded as his personal line began to ring and the caller ID showed that it was none other than Colonel Jack O'Neill. 'Couldn't wait TWO more hours could you?'

"Hammond."

"…."

"She was? Is she ok?"

"….."

"It may have been a deliberate attack on her?"

"….."

"A rescuer. I see."

"…."

"He was injured? How badly?"

"….."

"I see. Janet is looking at him now."

"….."

"Why do you want to move him there?"

"….."

"There was no sign of the attacker?"

"….."

"Yes, I understand Colonel. You don't wish to say more until you get to a secured area." Hammond looked down at the paperwork that he had been able to get done in the few hours of peace and quiet and let out an internal sigh. "I want you to make contact with the base once you get there."

"….."

"Sure, hold on one moment and I'll get something to write his information on." As he began to write down the pertinent information on one Alexander L. Harris of Sunnydale California, General Hammond had the sinking sensation that it was going to be a long night. "I'll run a check on him immediately. His information will be there waiting for you."

"….."

Hammond chuckled. "No, I don't know who won the pool, Colonel." He sighed while looking at the information in front of him. "Take care of yourself, Jack."

"….."

"Will do. Goodbye." As he hung up his phone he gave a longing glance at the photograph of his granddaughters. 'Oh well. I guess we'll have to send them to College some other way.'

Now he had some more immediate concerns to address. He had a background search to run. He had to contact Area 51 to let them know of the expected visitors. Perhaps least important, he had to find out who won the pool. 'Oh. And let's not forget to get some Tylenol to help me with the headache that's suddenly started to form.'

"Well…at least the world isn't ending."

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Jack had just hung up his cell phone with General Hammond and was making his way back into the other room. He apprised the others of their current situation. Danny and Teal'c were now both in the room, having been contacted by Janet earlier. Cassandra was sitting next to Sam.

She was pouting do to the abrupt ending of their vacation that never got started. 'Though actually seeing Area 51 would be cool.' That thought brought a small grin to her face. She barely got to visit the SGC anymore, this could still be fun.

They were quickly packed, as tends to be the case when one doesn't actually unpack to begin with. They had been informed that their transportation had arrived moments before and were about to head out as Jack began to give out orders.

"Ok, Cassie you're with me and Sam in the front SUV." Cassie began to look between him and her mother, but he just continued. "Danny you'll be driving the other SUV. Teal'c you sit with, and guard or friend here." Teal'c gave a slight head nod followed by an "Indeed." To show his assent. "Doc, you ride with Danny and T."

Now that everyone knew where they were to be, Jack and Teal'c moved the still unconscious form of Xander, while the others took the luggage. They made quick work of getting to their automobiles

They were quickly on there way to Groom Lake. Jack was gently interrogating Carter as to just what happened. He definitely needed more information to give to the General. Carter was having trouble with her story. It sounded as though she were talking about 'vampires' though everyone knew those didn't exist. Though, he found it hard to believe that aliens would target one of his team members, let alone that it could be a chance encounter.

Jack had to admit, Carter was quite adamant that her attacker had not been of this world. But that did bring up some pretty good questions. He thought to himself, 'How does some kid, from California, know about Aliens in the first place.' He was staring out at the highway ahead of him as another thought occurred. 'What the hell did he use to get rid of the body. I didn't find anything overtly technological that would explain it.'

He looked over at Carter who sat quietly contemplating to herself.

He sighed quietly to himself and muttered, "Hammond is not going to like this."


	4. Ch 4

Chapter 3?

O'Neill pulled onto the base about an hour and a half later, followed closely by Dr. Daniel Jackson. Half a dozen medical personnel were awaiting their arrival. They were quick to retrieve Xander, who had remained out cold throughout the trip.

Doctor Janet Frazier was quick to follow them while dragging her adopted daughter, Cassandra, along with her.

That left Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c, the four person team that comprised the SGC's most elite off-world gate team, to casually stroll into the complex.

The Colonel was quickly intercepted by and airman. After a brief salute was exchanged the airman gave the Colonel two folders.

Reading that the folder's were pertaining to Mr. Harris, Jack couldn't help but think, 'Damn, the General really put a rush job on this.' The fact that there were two folders struck Jack as odd, but let it slide for the moment.

Opening the first file, he found the information to be that of your average citizen. There were some mentions of possible relations to gang activity, but nothing substantial. They were mere footnotes really. It seemed that Mr. Harris paid his taxes, owned an apartment, he even had a job as a construction worker. There really wasn't that much out of the ordinary. It was the other file that brought him up short.

He believed that it resembled what his own file would look like. Meaning that there really wasn't any information there. Almost every word on that file had been blacked out, and was apparently confidential on a level that even he wasn't cleared for.

When he looked again he had to blink in shock. 'Scratch that. His record is confidential to a level that even General Hammond wasn't cleared for.' He shook his head in awe. 'I didn't even know there was a level of clearance above the General's!'

There was definitely a military feel to this mystery file. Well, military or something damn close to it.

Colonel O'Neill never even looked back at his team members, who were quietly chatting among themselves. He just made his way to the nearest secure line. He had to talk to the General, and he had to talk to him now.

The other members of SG-1 stopped their conversation and watched as their CO stormed off with a specific purpose. Without even speaking to each other they began to follow their CO in tandem.

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When his phone rang once again the General was not surprised. Ever since reading his own copy of the files sent about Mr. Harris, he had been expecting it.

"Hammond."

xxxxxxxx

"General, It's O'Neill." He looked down at the information in his hands as the rest of SG-1 settled in behind him. "Sir, the information on this guy is sort of thin. Not to mention the huge letters that seemed to be affiliated with this file I'm holding here that says CONFIDENTIAL. Now I have got to say that my curiosity is piqued."

That seemed to get the attention of the rest of his teammates.

xxxxxxxx

"I understand that Colonel. I've even been in contact with a few of my own personal contacts, but I really don't have much to go on. So why don't you give me a brief report of what happened earlier."

xxxxxxxx

"Yes Sir." He turned to Carter while giving his report on what happened. She simply nodded her consent to what he was saying.

"So, to sum it up General, we have a possible extra terrestrial with a strength and speed that is far above normal. Apparent body temperature is cooler than your average human's." He looked over at Carter as she relayed some pertinent information. "It appears that our ET can appear human, however, when it assumes its natural appearance its entire body changes." He looked at Carter who was nodding with a somewhat distant look in her eyes that she suddenly brought back into focus. She gave him a quick smile before he continued. "Apparently ridges form on its forehead. Its eyes become a golden color, which so far is the only similarity to that of a Goul'd, Also, its teeth turn into fangs." He smiled faintly at Carter. "So we may in fact be dealing with Vampires, Sir."

Daniel spoke up. "Jack, don't forget to tell him about the body." He had been talking to Sam on his way in, and he found this all 'fascinating.' Well, now that everyone was all right he thought it was 'fascinating.'

"Sir, according to Carter the body combusted, or became dust. That's why we can't find a body. I might suggest sending in a team to locate said dust, or at least the weapon used to turn it into dust." He paused for a moment. "No weapons have been found on our guest." He looked over at Carter with a thoughtful expression. "At least no weapon that we have recognized. I'll have Carter supervise some tests. Make sure there aren't any strange energy readings coming from some sort of camouflaged weaponry." Sam gave him a smile and a nod.

Sam looked up at him. "Sir, it may be possible that the way it died was just its normal reaction to such a circumstance. We take a while to decompose. Their body may have some chemical, or something to that affect.

He nodded his head and relayed the information to the General.

xxxxxxxx

Hammond sat in his office in a stunned silence. 'Vampires? I seriously hope that was a joke. Dealing with our off-world enemies is enough as it is. Last thing I need to learn is that there really are monsters in my closet.' He wanted to laugh at that thought but for some reason he just couldn't.

"Very well Colonel. I'll start relaying that information and see what I can find for you. I suggest that you all get some rest where you are." He looked down into the folder he was holding before closing it. "Once Mr. Harris awakens, make sure to get some answers." He paused for a moment. "But please remember Colonel, he is not a prisoner. While he can't walk around the base, he is to be treated as our guest. From what you told me he actually saved the Major's life. Try not to forget that."

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Jack was about to reply when an Airman knocked on the door. After entering, he related to the members of SG-1 that the man they brought in was now awake. And seemed to be none too pleased.

Jack gave a quick groan into the receiver. "I understand Sir. Mr. Harris just woke up, so we're going to go see him now." He added belatedly, "With your permission, of course."

xxxxxxxx

Hammond gave a quick nod into the receiver before responding. "Permission granted. I'll keep searching on my end and get in contact with you once I learn something. God speed Colonel."

There was a muffled 'Thank you Sir' on the other end before the phone clicked off and all he heard was the dial tone.

He wearily hung up the phone thinking, 'I'm not going to like this.'


	5. Ch 5

For most people returning to consciousness comes in stages. First you slowly wake, not quite sure of what is happening around you. Next, you have the sudden urge to go back into the land of the unconscious. Then, slowly, you begin to gain your bearings and rise fully into the land of the living.

Xander, however, is not most people. Years living with abusive parents had taught him a valuable lesson of waking up immediately. Then, after living in a never ending battle for the past few years, the habit of becoming fully conscious immediately had been ingrained to the point that it was now of a second nature.

The first thought that went through Xander's aching head was that he was on a bed. 'I don't remember ever checking into a hotel last night.' The second was the smell of antiseptics. 'Ah crap. Someone took me to a hospital. I hope the police aren't involved. All I need is to be charged with public drunkenness or something like that.'

He was silently cursing himself as he opened his eyes. Taking in his surroundings, he quickly dismissed any and all of his previous conclusions. For one thing the place was far too pristine and sterile to be a hospital. That fact, combined with the multiple number of beds lining the room, brought him to the conclusion this was more of an infirmary than a hospital.

The same thought that, 'None of this is of the good' kept repeating in his mind. He was a whirlwind of thought. And that had the unwanted side affect of bringing on a mind splitting headache.

He had to pause in his though process for a moment in order to concentrate on dulling the pain into a manageable pulsing throb. Having had to do this many times in the past, it was accomplished in very little time. Trying to stay calm, he once again took in his current situation.

He was in a bed, covered in hospital sheets. Lifting up the sheets he could see that his chest was bare, though someone had done an excellent job of wrapping his ribs. 'A point in there favor.' He was also wearing a thin pair of pants that one may see on a surgeon.

His attention was taken from observing himself when the door to his current locale was opened. A middle aged woman with hair slightly darker than Willow's was approaching him. There was definite concern in her eyes that was laced with professionalism. She got to be the doctor.

She began to fuss over him for a moment while asking questions. He wasn't paying her enough attention. That was occupied by the man standing at the door. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the man himself. Well, other than the fact that he was in some military garb and he was currently wearing a holstered sidearm.

Noticing that her current patient was otherwise preoccupied with his gaze at the armed guard, she gave a quick nod of her head. The guard stepped out of the room. He quickly turned to another guard, who was stationed outside the door. After speaking a few quick words they saluted each other before the second took up his position guarding the entrance while the first went to contact the Colonel and his team.

Now that there was no longer the distraction of the guard, Xander's attention was brought back to Doctor Frasier as she checked over his wounds.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Harris?" As with her eyes, her voice was laced with both concern and professionalism.

Xander inwardly winced at being called, 'Mr. Harris.' That was his father's name, and there was no way he wanted to be reminded, no less associated, with that man. Outwardly he only lightly pressed his hand against his bandaged ribs.

"I think I feel better than I have any right too. I have a slight headache, but my chest feels surprisingly comfortable. There's some pain, but all things considering…I've faired worse." He figured that when unsure of your current situation, play nice with the locals. He looked up at her with a grateful expression. "Did you wrap these?"

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"It's what I do." Well, this is going pretty good. "We just took some X-rays to make sure, but I don't expect to find anything broken. We just finished wrapping your ribs a little while ago." He smiled and nodded.

"So…where am I?" He looked at her expectantly.

Janet sighed inwardly. 'Well, that didn't last long.'

She looked at him with a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harris, but I'm afraid that's classified."

His smile slowly left his face, only to be replaced by a closed and guarded expression. It was at that time that the doors to the infirmary opened admitting Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG-1.


	6. Ch 6

Jack entered the hospital wing of the base closely followed by the rest of his team. The airman posted at the door quickly shut it once all four of them had entered.

One thing that could most definitely be said about Colonel O'Neill was that he was very good at reading both people and situations. And just as sure as he was that the Goa'uld were evil, he was plenty sure he did not like the look he was getting from his new guest.

'Ah crap. Something set the kid off. How the hell should I handle this.' Jack knew that he wanted answers. Hell, it seemed as though every time he looked for answers he only found more questions. And his curiosity was most definitely piqued.

He assumed he had the man power, not to mention the proper position, to strong arm the kid into talking. Though there was all that confidentiality surrounding the kid's profile. Perhaps he'd been trained to withhold information from interrogation. And, if the kid had connections, that particular route may not be the right one to go down. After all, what right did he have to any of this Intel?

Well, for one thing, an important member of his team had been attacked. And this young man in front of him had info on the particular party involved. He may also have some form of advanced technology, though he had been told that none had been found. Even the 'crime scene' had shown a lack of any kind of useful evidence.

The first half of that information is what concerned him the most. And since said information seemed vitally important at the moment, he decided to go with an approach that, under normal circumstances, he would never go with, and it was one that he figured may come back to bite him in the ass.

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Xander watched the man in the lead. Everything about was screaming military, not to mention Leader, with a 'capital L.' His attention then turned to those that were following him. The blonde woman, who somehow looked familiar to him, was only a few steps behind. He could feel the curiosity coming off of her in almost physical waves. She had a look of innocence, though her posture also spoke of the military. Though, one of her most prominent features was her eyes. Beyond the beauty held within those pools was an intelligence that couldn't be ignored. He had a feeling, that like most of the women in his life, as innocent as she looked, she could probably kick his ass if she so desired. It gave him an almost comfortable feeling. And if the situation weren't so dire, he may have actually smiled.

There were two men trailing her. The first seemed a bit lanky. With his glasses, and his current posture, he bore a striking resemblance to Giles. Perhaps not in physical appearance, but he reminded him of a younger version of his father figure. He even gave of a slight vibe of having a hard edge under the right circumstances. The other man was polar opposite in his appearance. The other man was tall, dark, large, and well muscled. Though the hat the man wore seemed somewhat out of place, he held himself in the manner of a stoic warrior. And as he made his way into the room, Xander was sure that this man was no less than a warrior. And if he were a betting man, Xander would place money that this man was a damn good one too.

With the exception of the lanky man, all three of the others just screamed 'Soldier.' And that though brought a pit of darkness, and some despair, into his currently aching chest. 'Oh, for the love of god! We were told that they closed down the Initiative. So now what…they decide it would be a good idea to kidnap me and not even have the decency to tell me where I am? This just sucks.' Even though he was going down this current line of thinking, the man approaching him didn't just seem like a 'recruit' but, for some reason, was screaming 'military man' in those deep recesses where the 'Soldier Spirit' still resided. He decided to test that theory out.

"You Navy?" That seemed to stop the man short. He quickly shook his head 'No' and responded with "US Air Force."

Before more questions could be asked it was actually the doctor that started with the introductions.

"That is Colonel O'Neill." The Colonel interrupted with a smirk saying 'With Two L's' Janet just ignored him and went on. "The woman behind him is Major Carter. The two men are Dr. Jackson, and…" She hesitated for a fraction of a moment. That was something that did not go unnoticed by Xander. "Murray." To which Teal'c inclined his still covered head slightly in acknowledgment. She lightly placed her hand on Xander's shoulder. "And I think we all know this is Mr. Harris."

This time Xander did wince at hearing this. He definitely didn't want to be called 'Mr. Harris' the entire time.

"Xander." They all gave him curious and expectant looks. "Please, call me Xander."

Colonel O'Neill nodded his head slightly and seemed to come to a decision. He placed two folders on a tray table located next to the medical bed that Xander was currently in. He looked down to the young man lying on the bed. The kid's expression was still mostly, if not completely, guarded.

"Call me Jack." He paused for a moment. "So, Xander, why don't you tell us just what happened tonight. And let us in on what it was that you saved Major Carter from."

At that moment two thoughts were running simultaneously in his mind. The first thought was more a reliving the scene from earlier that evening. With so many things happening to him at once upon awakening, he hadn't really taken into consideration what had led him into this current predicament. It was more of 'how the hell do I get out of it? And just what is my current problem?' He had completely forgotten what had transpired earlier. But now he remembered. He remembered trying to save The Major from a vampire. He had half charged, and half drunkenly stumbled into the vampire as it was trying to sink its fangs into Major Carter's neck. He was suddenly reliving being the damn thing's punching dummy for a short while before he staked it.

The second thought was the one that disturbed him the most. 'They either don't know what happened, or they're just playing me.' He looked at each person in the room, trying to gauge their expressions. 'I really don't think they know. Ah crap! If they don't know about vampires, I am sure as Hell not going to tell the USAF about them. And I'm certainly not leading them to Buffy, Willow, Dawn, and Tara….hmm…maybe Spike…No…none of them. I'd die to protect 'my girls,' all of them, and I'm sure as hell not going to lead the entire military to them.' He looked around the room trying to hide the despair that was rapidly growing within. 'Just great Xan, now how in the Hell are you going to get out of this one?'


	7. Ch 7

Xander did not like his options at the moment. There were only so many routes to go down right now. And none of those paths lead to a destination he wanted to travel. He could just clam up, as it were. Though, he was fairly certain that would not bode well for his diminishing hope of freedom.

He could tell them about Vampires and Demons, yet say nothing that would compromise his friends. At first glance that seemed like the best route to go down. Though it would have some drawbacks. There was the chance, however slight, that he would wind up being placed in some padded room with all the other 'crazies.' However, judging from the actual question that was asked, he didn't think the chance of them believing him to be completely insane to be that great a risk.

The main problem would arise when they started to do research into whatever he decides to tell them. Anything involving Demons and the government would ultimately lead to the Initiative, or at least some aspects of it. And from there you have a whole new Government entity interested in 'his girls.' And that was simply unacceptable.

It was a shame he couldn't get in contact with Riley. He would probably be the best able to get out of this predicament while keeping his friends confidential. Sadly, any contact information he had was back in SunnyD. And again, there was no way he was leading anyone in the government to his friends.

Suddenly, confessing about Vampires and Demons did not seem like the path he wanted to go down. However, thinking about confidentiality brought his attention to two folders resting on the table next to his bed.

"What are these?"

Jack looked a little put off that his question wasn't being answered. Then again, he wasn't expecting this to be an easy interrogation to begin with. Well, this kid wasn't supposed to be treated like a hostile prisoner. So, he supposed that his best choice would be to answer as truthful as possible. Well, truthful within reason, of course.

"Those files pertain to you."

'Well…one of those has to deal with the Initiative. My bet is on the really thin red one that looks like one of those 'For Your-Eyes-Only' types. And since they genuinely don't seem to know about the night life, my guess is that its classified.' He looked at the expression that Jack was giving him. 'Yet something tells me that, even if it is true, my life did not just become any less complicated.' He sighed inwardly for the path he was about to travel.

"Then I would assume you know that any information on that is classified." Oh yeah, there was that dark expression that he knew was coming.

'For cryin' out loud. Fine, I guess its time to play hardball. Let's just hope I remember to keep the 'kid gloves' on.' A stray thought came to him. 'He helped Carter out when she needed it. Perhaps I can use that to pry some information loose.'

"Look kid, whatever it was attacked a member of MY team. I won't stand for it to remain an unknown." He stared down into Xander's eyes, trying to convey his seriousness. "It attacked her, and by extension myself and every member of my team. We aren't the aggressor here, it was."

'He's trying to protect his own. Have to respect that. Though I wonder what type of team they are. Two Air Force personnel and two civilians.' He shook that thought off. 'But I have my own people to protect.' And he was not going to let them down.

Colonel O'Neill though he was getting through to the kid. There seemed to be understanding in his eyes. And he was consistently nodding his head slightly in agreement. So the kid's response was somewhat shocking and very disappointing.

"I'm sorry Colonel. I really am. But I can't," The kid seemed to reflect inward for a brief moment. He changed tactics. Deciding that pressing too hardly would only make his situation that much worse, he continued. "I won't give out this information." He looked up at the Colonel, almost pleading for him to understand. "Not yet."

However, the Colonel was not having any of that. And immediately went for a more aggressive tactic.

He spoke with a sharp and aggressive tone. "Look kid, this isn't some idle curiosity here." He looked back at Major Carter. "She was attacked and we demand answers. How long do you want to stay here until we get answers?"

Xander closed his eyes and groaned internally. This was not the direction that he wanted to go. He needed to defuse the current direction the 'conversation' was heading. And when in doubt, the old tactics seemed to work the best. And there was nothing he did better in such a situation than use humor. Well, some would call it humor.

"Ah man, and there isn't even a TV in here." He tried to give a sincere horrified expression before whining. "I'm going to miss The Simpsons tonight!"

That actually got a snicker from the peanut gallery in the back. He looked at the Colonel who was trying his hardest not to grin, or perhaps smirk. He wasn't entirely sure. Suddenly he figured this would be the best place to stop this conversation. Perhaps he could regroup and give himself some time to think. He looked back at the peanut gallery and could tell that both the Major and Dr. Jackson both wanted in on the conversation. Murray, on the other hand, may has well have been watching paint dry. 'Reminder to self. Self, do NOT play poker against that man.'

Wanting to get this done sooner rather than later, he gave a slight groan and looked back at the Colonel.

"My head is killing me. Give me some time. I'm sure we'll have this conversation again later." When he wasn't getting the reaction he wanted from the Colonel, he quickly turned his attention to the Doctor who was still standing by his side.

Realizing that her patient was most likely in some amount of pain, she quickly took control of the situation. She shooed out a protesting Jack. The rest of SG-1 followed, somewhat hesitantly.

After getting them out she fussed over her patient for a short while and tried to make him as comfortable as possible, since he wouldn't accept any pain medication. Not that she could blame him. She quickly left the room giving the guard posted at the door instructions to observe her patient while he rested.

He nodded his assent and took up his position. She quickly made her way to her daughter figuring that Cassie must be going crazy in this place all by herself. She sighed to herself as she got to her room only to find her daughter already asleep. 'We can all use some sleep.'

Inside the medical wing was just one patient. And he was someone that wouldn't be getting any sleep in the immediate future.


	8. Ch 8

General Hammond let out a sigh of contentment as he finally laid his head on his pillow. He had spent hours on the phone with his contacts. He couldn't believe how difficult it was to get any information on this Alexander L. Harris. After spending hours talking to people, who technically don't exist, he hadn't been able extract anything more than what he already had. It was down right frustrating.

He had finally conceded defeat and decided to use his 'red phone.' It was something he had not wanted to do. That phone was to be used in dire emergencies. And trying to gain clearance on an individual that may, or may not, have anything to do with this program was not considered an emergency. Well, if they weren't dealing with end of the world scenarios every other week, then perhaps it would be considered an emergency.

It had been hours ago that he had placed that call and he had not received any word back. He had even tried to get an update earlier, but had been given the run around. But it was late, or early depending on your viewpoint. Figuring that he wouldn't hear any word for quite a while, he decided to try and get some sleep.

He was up in one of the VIP rooms. It really wasn't a random room. He spent so many hours at the base, he basically lived there. Only Dr. Jackson and Major Carter voluntarily spent more time there than he did, well that's if you don't count there time off-world. Jack was constantly griping that those two really needed to get more of a life. The General could sympathize. Hell, on more than one occasion he felt the need to order those two off the base. Teal'c, on the other hand, lived on base by order of the military. The former First-Prime of Apophis had never commented on his living arrangements, though he did try to get out every once in a while. Teal'c may not know it at this point in time, but The General was almost finished going through the proper channels to clear the Jaffa for living arrangements that were off base.

So, Hammond found himself falling to sleep in his personal VIP room. Even as unconsciousness was overtaking him, he couldn't help but to think that it was 'only Jack' who could cause him this much trouble, give him this much of a headache, while on vacation. He had just entered the final stages of being in a deep sleep when the phone next to his bed wailed next to his head.

At first he though the warning claxons were going off, then he realized that it was just his phone. His heart began to beat a more relaxed base, only four times above normal. 'Just once can it be a wrong number?' He seriously doubted it. He glanced at the clock by his bedside. It was only 3:30am. 'A whole hour and a half of sleep.' He calmed his nerves and answered the phone.

In a stern voice, he barked "Hammond."

"……"

"Airman, it's too early for this. Just tell me what the situation is."

"……"

"Who's at the gate?"

"……" Hammond suddenly sat up quite a bit straighter in bed.

"The President?" Hammond's eyes grew a little wider. "I'll be out to greet him in just a moment."

He put the phone down in complete shock. He managed to put on his uniform fairly quickly while still looking quite presentable, he made his way to greet the president.

'This is all Jack's fault, I just know it is.' He sighed again, this time there was no contentment involved. 'I should probably have Walter get some coffee for us. This is probably going to take a while.'

General Hammond was in his usual seat in 'The War Room.' It was just The President and himself. There two large stacks of identical files. One stack was placed in front of The President while the other was placed in front of him.

Some coffee, water, and food were placed in the room. Several men, who had arrived with the president, had done a thorough sweep of the room with quite a few sophisticated looking electronics. When they were finished with their sweep they simply vacated the room and took in guarding positions just outside the entrances to the room.

Hammond didn't know what to think. The president looked extremely unsettled. It was quite unnerving.

"Mr. President, Sir, I was not expecting you to come all the way to the SGC."

"Believe me General, I certainly was not expecting it either." The President seemed to stare intently at the folders placed in front of him before coming back into focus. "You have no idea the storm that started brewing from all of your inquiries."

Hammond looked concerned. "All this for one person's classified file?"

The President shook his head. "Oh no, George, the information pertaining to him is just a small part of the classified information that is in that file." He sighed while picking up the first file. "Tell me George, what do you know about Vampires and other Demons?" Hammond tried to keep an impassive façade, but must have failed slightly. "Why don't we start with these first few files. Then you can call me crazy."

With a small amount of hesitation, General Hammond retrieved the file on the top of the stack. Even as The President spoke, he knew that his world was, once again, going to change.

"General, what do you know about a supposedly quiet town called Sunnydale and a project called The Initiative?" Hammond simply shook his head, and with a foreboding feeling, opened the first file.

xxxxxxx

_**2 Hours Later**_

General Hammond looked quite a bit more disheveled than when he had greeted The President Earlier. Both men had their jackets slung over the back of their seats and their sleeves were rolled up. It had not taken a long time to convince The General about the truthfulness of what he was reading.

"Let me see if I got this straight. The NID decided to run this project, The Initiative. They captured Vampires and other Demons. They performed countless experiments on said demons. They developed technology that could control some of these species of Demons. They even went so far as to manufacture a chip that would not permit a Vampire to harm a human." Receiving a nod from the President he went on. "They then went even further and constructed a 'super soldier' using parts from Demons, and machinery" He gave a grimace of distaste, "and even than of a man, and wound up creating a monster. One that was worse than anything they had faced up to date."

"Yes and no." Seeing Hammond's confused yet enquiring gaze, he continued. "Yes, the NID operated, in secrecy…trust me…I am most definitely going to find out how they got the funding for this without going through the proper channels…anyways, yes they would capture a 'HST' run experiments or terminate. And believe it or not, that was supposedly sanctioned work. How it became sanctioned without ever seeing the light of day troubles me, but I'm sure that some leads will turn up." The President let out a bitter chuckle. "Believe it or not, the entire creation of the 'Super Soldier' was done in secrecy without the authorization of the NID."

"Mr. President, are you telling me that The Initiative was both a Rogue, and Sanctioned NID operation?"

"Apparently." He took a long drink of water.

"How did they have a Rogue operation taking place concurrently with a Sanctioned one?"

The President simply looked at him. "Are you really that surprised?"

He had to consider the point. There didn't seem to be much that Maybourne or Simmons would go through to get what they wanted. Though Simmons was by far the greater evil of the two.

"So how exactly was this…ADAM…taken down."

The President gave a slight smile. "Oh, General, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." He gave another chuckle, this one not quite so dark. "You may not even believe the files, but I assure you…The video will just blow you away."

The President went down about 4 files into the stack and pulled out a thick folder. The General repeated this. At the same time they opened up their folders.

"George, to start this off, I would like to introduce you to the, apparently infamous, 'Scooby Gang.'"

The General couldn't help but think, 'I'm getting to old for this.'

Remembering his reaction when he had been given this information earlier this night, a smile crept onto The President's face as he thought, 'I wonder if the General is going to like this.'


	9. Ch 9

I'd like to take a moment and thank Dani for being my Beta...let's all hope I don't drive her too crazy...only one day...and I think I may be doing just that...so...Thank you Dani...Thank You :-D

she chex my gramar...she makes me sound good (she in no way takes responisibility for this message) and if you still find any mistakes...yes I really am that bad

xxxxxxxxxx

Taking the advice of The President, General Hammond skimmed through the file. There would be time later to do a more thorough reading, but for now, since time was an issue for The President, Hammond would happily peruse the information within the file about 'The Scooby Gang.'

The file was basically divided into smaller sections. Each one detailing information about the various civilians that assisted the agents of The Initiative. There was only a small amount of information about Mr. Harris.

The information in the file had been obtained by field agents. Agent Finn was the most senior operative and was the one to write these briefs. Apparently, most agents believed Mr. Harris to be a tag-along. Agent Finn, on the other hand, was under the impression that Mr. Harris was a quite able to handle himself.

Hammond pondered this for a moment. 'Makes sense, the man has been able to survive this long. He must be doing something right.' He shook his head for a moment and continued reading the summary for the rest of the group.

There were apparently two witches. 'I still can't believe magic is real.' He had to smile at that thought.

He was impressed at the effort put forth by the two young women. It seemed they had basically trained themselves, and did quite well in the field.

When he got midway through the file, he realized something quite important. The second half of the file was dedicated to only one person. A Ms. Elizabeth Anne Summers, aka Buffy Summers, The Vampire Slayer.

There was much more detail in this section of the file. The information within was almost unbelievable. If he hadn't been informed of the real world around him, he wouldn't have believed a word of what he was reading.

The results from the tests performed, and from the missions she went on, almost read like fiction. 'No one person can be this strong, or fast.' Suddenly he thought back to when Anise had put those Arm Bands onto the human members of SG-1 and the results from that little 'experiment.' He quickly revised his previous thought.

He looked up and at The President, only to find The President staring intently at him.

"I know what you're thinking, George." He gave a light smile. "To be honest I'd be thinking the same thing. But, from what I've been informed, she needs to be left alone. If we try to recruit her, it will leave us open to a threat that we aren't prepared for." The President's expression had become serious. His expression had an surity to it that confirmed that he knew what he was talking about. Suddenly The President smiled slightly. "Though, should the situation warrant it, I wouldn't object to having her join a mission or two."

Hammond had to concede the point. While Ms. Summers would be a great asset, she was needed elsewhere. Having her join them on a permanent basis presented

an unacceptable risk. However, having her there on a temporary, or case-by case basis, definitely held some possibilities. In the end, Hammond just accepted the advice/order that he had been given.

"Actually, George, this is part of the real reason I am here at this ungodly hour." The President sighed as he picked up a rather large briefcase that had more safeguards on it than most briefcases that might hold a nuke. The President placed the briefcase on a portion of the table he had recently cleared.

He stared at the briefcase for a moment before looking back at the General. "Believe it or not, there were a lot of powerful military figures gunning for young Mr. Harris."

Hammond looked at him in disbelief. "What did the kid do?"

The President actually chuckled and patted the briefcase. "According to his file, he stole a rocket launcher from an army base." Seeing the Genera's demeanor begin to change, he quickly went into greater detail. "He needed it to defeat a demon that, and I quote, "Can not be harmed by any weapon forged by man."

The General's expression changed from one of blossoming outrage to one of immense curiosity.

"I don't recall that in any of the files we went through."

The president shook his head. "You wouldn't, and neither would most people for that case." The President let out another sigh. "I'll be honest with you George. I was expecting your call earlier. When you started with your inquiries, it was decided that you would, at some point, turn to me." The President picked up his glass and took a long drink. "They knew that I would find out what was going on, so they took the initiative, pardon the pun, and began to debrief me soon after your first call."

General Hammond looked at The President in complete bewilderment. He had been lied to directly from The President. Though, this did explain why he hadn't

gotten anywhere earlier. There was only one question on his mind.

"When did you decide to let me into this inner circle?"

"From the get-go, George. But I wasn't even going to entertain the notion of having you briefed until I had full knowledge of what was going on. I also wanted to make my own assessments of the situation. And if you didn't have who you have in custody, it could have been a few more days before I came to you with what we have." He went through the process of overriding the safeguards on the briefcase. When it was opened he pulled out a few more files that were quite large, some video footage, and a piece of equipment he hadn't seen before.

"I decided to be the one to come here and brief you personally. You deserve no less. But at the moment there is some information that you may find very

interesting. Everything in here pertains to young Mr. Harris."

Hammond looked shocked. 'All this for the a civilian with no known supernatural abilities?'

The President seemed to be able to read his thought.

"Don't judge a book by its cover. A lot of things happened before The Initiative moved in. Besides, Sunnydale was being watched by the certain aspects of the government before The Initiative took over."

Hammond just gave him an incredulous stare. A million questions were going through his mind. But the President never gave him the opportunity to voice them.

"Before the NID somehow snuck in there, the military was going to set up shop there. But, either way, one doesn't just move into enemy territory. You scout it first. They were expecting to run into the enemy." The President just shook his head at what he was about to say. "What they weren't expecting to find was a certain group of High School kids, and their Librarian." The president then slid one of the large files over to The General.

Hammond took a look at the first few pages before looking up at the President in shock. "How did he...how did we get this information. Wait, why don't people, or the NID have access to these files?"

"From what I'm told, their files were well classified to begin with. Had the NID taken the proper channels to acquire The Initiative, things may have worked out differently. However, those in charge were not trusted by those in the Military, so these files were never released, and they were classified to an even higher extent." The President leaned back into his chair. He shook is head slightly before speaking. "As far as gaining the information in the files before you...apparently our ability to gather intel directly related to this group was fairly limited. And because of that, other methods needed to be used." The President's eyes darkened. "And you'd be surprised just what the Demons knew, and were willing to tell, about their enemies. And they most definitely thought of Mr. Harris as an enemy."

Hammond thought how wrong it was to have such enemies as Demons when you were at such a young age. He looked back at the file and quickly shook off the thought. "How sure are we about the accuracy of all this?"

"We're quite sure. Almost everything in there has been verified one way or another. And if not, it's been stated in there as well."

It was a few hours later when Hammond had finally finished the first file. He looked up at the president in complete awe. 'Those agents had no idea what Mr. Harris is capable of. The things he's been through...' The thought alone made him shudder. His admiration for the young man strengthened with each passing moment. Something which shone through his eyes. When he looked at The President, he found the man smiling at him.

"Yes George, I want him here. I'm lifting the non-recruitment order placed on him. So work hard, and work fast. I'll make sure to keep things quiet on my end." Hammond just nodded along.

Just having Mr. Harris on board by himself would be a great advantage. The benefit he could provide indirectly just added to determination to recruit the young man. With that thought he smiled and shook his head.

The President got out of his chair and stretched. "There's a lot more to discuss, but now is not the time." He gave a quick yawn. "So, I hear that Jack and the rest of SG-1 only lasted 4 hours?"

Hammond had to pull himself out of his thoughts and review what the CIC had just said. He gave a quick smile. "Yes sir, that's true."

The President just nodded his head. "Good, where's my money?"


	10. Ch 10

God, Xander hated hospitals. Some of his worst memories included time spent in a hospital room. When he had been younger, a visit to the hospital wasn't exactly a rare occasion. The drunkard that he called father saw to that quite often. But in the later years, his memories took a whole new turn for the worse. As horrible as his visits had been as a child, when he had been visiting in high school it had not been because he needed treatment. No, that would have been preferable. He was there visiting his friends and loved ones. Those he felt as though he had let down, those he was not able to protect.

He had visited Willow while she lay in a hospital bed on more than one occasion. When she had been hurt so badly that she had been in a coma, he had felt as though he was drowning. Breathing had become a problem, and if it hadn't been for his friends, he never would have kept his sanity.

When Buffy had been in the hospital, completely out of commission, it had been one of the worst, yet best, experiences in his entire life. Seeing Buffy in such a helpless state, all the while contemplating the events that had transpired for this situation to have occurred, was by far one of the worst experiences he had ever faced. Blocking the entrance to her room, and all out challenging Angelus to enter, well that had been one of his best experiences. Especially since, in the end, Xander was still standing in the doorway, feeling more terrified than he had been in his entire existence, just to watch as one of four members of The Scourge of Europe shove some flowers in his chest with a parting shot, while retreating with his tail between his legs. He had never felt so proud, so right. But in the end he still hated hospitals.

This place may not be an actual hospital, but that sure wasn't helping any. Xander had laid in his bed, for how long he didn't know, just staring in the semi darkness. There was a faint background noise, consisting of soft humming and muted beeps, from the medical equipment. Some of that same equipment also gave off a faint glow that illuminated his surroundings somewhat. There was also a shadow that passed by the glass panels in the doors at the entrance, signaling the airmen at his post guarding the door. But Xander disregarded all of this and simply thought long and hard about his current situation.

He had come to a simple conclusion just moments before they left. He wasn't going to be telling any of them anything that they didn't already know. No matter what they did, or threatened him with, he was not going to betray his loved ones. That little revelation did nothing to improve his situation; if anything, it made it far worse.

He knew that these people were serious, and part of him wanted to tell them about vampires and demons, and simply leave his friends out of it. After all, the blonde woman, Major Carter, had been attacked by one. He didn't want to think what type of emotional trauma that might cause her, especially without being able to put a label on the 'monster' that had attacked her. He had been tempted to tell her about what had transpired in the alley and hope for the best, but the fact that they already had files on him told him that they would not let the subject go after that. A more thorough investigation would be done. And with the proper information, finding out about the 'Scoobies' wouldn't be that hard. And he was not going to put them in danger.

The next thought that had occurred to him was to get in touch with Riley. However, that was not going to happen because, for one thing, he didn't have his contact information. And there was no way he was going to get on a phone to get it, lest he lead these people back to his friends. And secondly, there was no way he was going to betray Riley and his team, who most likely didn't exist, by allowing these people to run whatever traces, or whatever they may do, and possibly out his friend.

So what was to come? Were they going to go to any length to get the information they wanted from him? He didn't think so. For one thing, someone had classified the information in the first place, and while he had no delusions that the US Government was strictly against torture to gain Intel, he was fairly sure that this situation wouldn't warrant it. There was also the fact that he had in fact saved Major Carter's life. He just hoped they didn't forget that. He was slightly worried about what tactics they might use to interrogate him, but he was more worried about them locking him up in some dark hole while they decide what to do with him. Or, for them to throw him in some dark hole should they ever find out what he knew. Well, a dark hole, or a padded cell, depending on who was in the loop.

Xander closed his eyes and groaned internally as his life came crashing around his head. Perhaps he deserved this fate for leaving Anya at the altar just hours, or perhaps a day, before. But, he didn't want it. His life may not have been a perfect one, but it was his, and he still wanted whatever he could salvage from it. He knew that he and Anya were done for good, but he still had his friends who were now more a family than even his own blood relatives. And now, it seemed, he may have lost it all. He opened his eyes and looked around him in a state of despair. He tried to let out a calming sigh, though it came out as more as a slight whimper. He took a few calming breaths that only served to lead him to the beginning stages of depression when a soft, feminine cough brought him out of his reverie.

He looked over, a bit startled, to see Major Carter standing just a few feet away from him. 'How long has she been there?' He didn't remember seeing her there a moment ago. He was either really loosing it, or she was just plain good at entering here without being noticed.

Standing at about 5'9," she was looking down at him. He stared into her eyes for a moment. He could feel the concern radiating from those blue pools. That concern was entwined with an ever-present curiosity and an underlying desire to solve whatever problem she was facing. All in all, their eye contact helped him to calm down.

He gave her a small lopsided smile. Her concern seemed to diminish slightly, but was still present. Her curiosity seemed to grow with each passing moment. After an indeterminate amount of time had passed, she finally spoke.

"Can we talk?"

He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Sure, as long as it has nothing to do with what happened earlier tonight. Also, Major," He looked down and studied his hands. "There may be some questions I'm unwilling to answer. I hope you can understand that."

She looked at him for a moment before nodding. She walked away for a moment and returned with a chair that she placed by the bed as he toyed with the bed until he was in a sitting position. He wasn't about to have a conversation here while lying down. When they had both finally settled, it was Xander who spoke first.

"So, Major, what is it that you want to talk about?"

She gave him a smile of her own. "First of all, please call me either Sam, or Carter. You don't have to call me Major."

He smiled and nodded. "Ok Sam, shoot."

xxxxxxxxxx

Hammond and The President walked out of the room they had occupied for the past several hours. The information in the folders had been secured. The information in the briefcase would be further reviewed tomorrow, especially that tape.

Hammond glanced over to the man who was quickly approaching them. "Walter, please have a VIP room made up for The President and some others for his people. They will be our guests for the night." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, our guests for the morning I suppose." Walter simply nodded and made to leave.

Hammond looked over to The President and sighed. "I'll get on the phone with Groom Lake now and have SG-1 escort Mr. Harris to the base as soon as possible."

The President gave him a warm smile. "Good, I look forward to meeting the young man." And with that he left with his men to get some much-needed rest.

Hammond had to stifle a yawn as he walked over to the phone. He picked it up while realizing that he was about to wake up Jack O'Neill at an early hour in the morning. Quite a few thoughts passed through his mind about waking the Colonel up. He shook his head. There was only one sure thing about waking the man up this early in the morning.

'Boy, Jack is not going to like this.'


	11. Ch 11

SG-1 had spent the past few hours discussing their current situation and the man who was currently resting in the medical wing of Area 51. Theories ranged on how to get the kid to talk for the first hour. Daniel had brought up the fact that whatever information Mr. Harris may be hiding from them had been classified to a degree that was above their clearance. That little fact didn't faze Colonel O'Neill in the least. The bottom line was that information pertaining to an attack on one of his teammates was lying in the infirmary right now. Not getting that information was unacceptable. The only question to him was what they would do to obtain that information, or how far they would go to get it. Truth be told, he liked the kid. He hadn't known the man for too long, but if anything, Jack was a good, not to mention a quick, judge of character. Beyond that, even Jack considered it ironic that the only reason Harris was here right now was because he intervened on Carter's behalf. That alone was enough to put the kid on his good side. And there was Carter to consider.

Sam had been keeping to herself. She had seemed distant since they left him in the medical wing. She seemed to be having her own internal monologue that she considered more important than the current discussion. And that, in itself, was quite odd. Sam could definitely be counted on to give sound advice in general. And if anything scientific was included in the problem, she was definitely the one to go to. The fact that she wasn't putting forth any of her own thoughts made Jack just want to retrieve that information now, and not wait until the morning.

Daniel seemed to be playing devil's advocate. Jack was fairly sure that the archeologist was doing it just to irritate Jack to no end. He knew that Daniel meant well, but now was not the time to be testing his patience. He sighed internally at the scene that playing on around him. He really couldn't fault Daniel for being Daniel. That would be like asking for the sun not to rise. That just would never happen; at least he hoped that would never happen. Jack looked over to his right and almost let out a snicker.

Teal'c was sitting just to his right in his usual stoic manner. 'Does he even know how to relax? He even sits at attention.' The Jaffa's expression was as impassive as ever. He had put in his two cents earlier. The Jaffa had advised waiting for Hammond to contact them with an update. And if the information obtained was insubstantial, then further interrogation would be warranted. Jack had to give the Jaffa one thing; he was a patient man. He had no doubt that, if need be, Teal'c would get the information himself and would do it in any way necessary if it meant protecting one of his team. Hell, part of his family. Ever since Teal'c had dispersed his own advice he had simply sat there and had given a slight head nod when he agreed with something said. The times were very few when he would voice an opinion to something he disagreed on, and then it was with clipped phrases that got straight to the point. In the end, no real headway was being made. That was why Jack decided to adjourn this meeting and told everyone to get some sleep.

Jack had spent the next few hours going over everything in his head a few more times. Finally, he decided to go to sleep. About two hours later, or 5 minutes if you ask Jack, his phone rang

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To say that Jack was not pleased to receive a call after just going to bed would be quite the understatement. However, whatever emotions he had when he picked up the receiver, it was only shock that remained when he placed the receiver back down.

He shook himself awake and quickly got dressed. He went to wake up the rest of his team; something that under other circumstances he would have taken a slight pleasure in, today there was none, only urgency.

He shook his head as he walked towards Carter's room. 'The freaking President is asking for him? Who is this kid?' He was so immersed in his internal musings that he hadn't realized he had been standing outside of Carter's room for a few minutes after knocking for the first time. He knocked a few more times before stating loudly that he was coming in.

He slowly opened the door and was somewhat surprised to find the room empty. In fact, the room looked like it hadn't even been slept in. He left the room with a fair idea of where she was. He quickly woke up both Daniel and Teal'c. He made a quick stop at Dr. Frasier and Cassie's room to tell them that they would be leaving to go back to the SGC once Dr. Frasier cleared Mr. Harris for travel. With sleep slowly bleeding from her eyes, Janet yawned that she would be there momentarily to check up on her patient. Cassandra said that she would pack. By then Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c were on their way to the medical wing.

When the three made their way to the entrance of the medical bay they were greeted by the guard on post. That seemed to be right. When he placed his hand on the door, opening it slightly, he heard something that was somewhat out of place. Carter's gentle laughter filtered from the room. Jack gave Daniel a curious look before entering the room.

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Carter was laughing with genuine amusement at the story that she was being told.

"You did not."

Xander gave her a smaller version of his patented lopsided grin. "I sure did. I went right over the railing on my skateboard." She started chuckling again, for which he was grateful. It was difficult to talk about yourself when your daily routine was all supposed to be a secret. He had feared that finding a safe subject to talk about would never present itself. But was he wrong.

He tried not to give out too many descriptions, and definitely no names. He figured that they had, or would have, files on most of his friends. After all, they had only known he existed for a few hours before they were apparently able to pull some information about him. He felt as though he could trust Sam, but he wasn't willing to risk his loved ones on that feeling.

Sam was about to ask another question when a polite cough from the colonel informed them that others were present. Sam was startled slightly and was quickly out of her seat. She had placed herself in a stiff, standing position. Colonel O'Neill quickly murmured for her to 'stand down' and she relaxed visibly. She was about to say something, but was never given the opportunity as Jack spoke first.

"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better." He gave a quick glance at Carter and it was clear that his statement wasn't only aimed at the man lying in the hospital bed. He brought his gaze down upon Xander and gave him a small smile that was tinged with a smirk. "Once the doc says you're good to go, we'll all be leaving."

The other three members of SG-1 shot him a surprised look. Neither Teal'c nor Daniel had been informed of what Jack had been told by General Hammond. They had figured that they were coming down to learn some new information. They would have said something; however, it was Xander who spoke up first.

"I take it that I won't be parting from your loving company?" He wanted to put some humor into this situation. Perhaps then he wouldn't feel so screwed. It didn't work. It may have, had his voice not sounded far more bitter than he intended.

Jack lightened his tone a degree. "Actually you'll be accompanying us to our own Base of Operations." He saw that Xander was about to respond so he held up his hand to stop whatever was going to be said. "This came directly from some of the higher ups." He actually shook his head. "From a particular higher up, who is very high up."

Xander got a curious look in his eye as he asked the Colonel, "Who?"

Whatever smile the colonel had left his face. Suddenly it was one huge smirk as he looked down upon his hapless victim. He shook his head and said, "Classified."

And with that, Janet entered the room followed closely by Cassie who stopped next to the members of SG-1. This being the first time she had seen the man laying in the bed, well, awake anyways.

A short while later he was declared fit for travel. Preparations were made for their departure. Not too long after they were all making their way, Xander being 'escorted' towards a plane waiting on a runway for whatever base they were on. Seeing Xander's expression become sullen, Colonel O'Neill walked over to him carrying a small bag.

He handed Xander the small bag. Xander looked at him curiously and he just smiled in return.

"Here" he said as Xander opened the bag. Inside was a portable DVD player and a good selection of The Simpson's on DVD. "They're mine. If you damage anything, I will have to hurt you at the very least."

Xander gave the colonel a genuine smile. 'Wow, I guess he isn't all bad. At least this will keep me entertained. And if I'm pre-occupied, perhaps I won't be questioned mercilessly' Xander quickly closed the bag and gave the colonel his thanks.

The other members of SG-1, including Janet and Cassie, were giving him amused looks.

"What?"

They all just chuckled and brought their attention to other things.

Truth be told, he did like the kid. So he probably would have let him use the DVD player and his DVDs so long as he was present. But apparently this kid was in good with The President, even if the kid didn't know it. So Jack would let him use it even without him being present.

He figured, in the very least, it would be an equal trade-off once he gets to see the kid's reaction to learning that the 'higher up' asking for him is none other than President Ryan.


	12. Ch 12

Xander sat quietly in his seat. The large airplane they were in had been flying east for quite some time. Shortly after the plane had leveled off, Jack and the rest of SG-1 had gone towards the front of the plane. They had asked him to remain where he was. He looked at the guards placed a short distance away from him on either side. 'Yea, like there's a fat chance of me actually going anywhere.' He thought morosely to himself.

He had been sitting and partially watching The Simpson's on DVD that Colonel O'Neill had handed to him before they boarded the plane. He was wearing headphones with the volume turned down so that it was almost mute. As hard as he strained to hear the conversation taking place in the front of the plane, the background noise of the plane, and the distance between them made such a task impossible. Well, impossible for someone without enhanced hearing. He shook his head once again. 'And once again, being the normal one comes back to bite me in the ass.'

xxxxxxxxxx

"He knows The President?" It was Carter's shocked voice that asked what everyone there was thinking.

Jack simply shook his head. "I don't think so. The General said that The President wanted to meet with him. I'm fairly sure that they haven't met prior to this."

Daniel looked thoughtful. "You know, I actually voted for him."

Jack gave him an incredulous look. "And that means what exactly?" Daniel just shrugged, causing O'Neill to mumble something unintelligibly under his breath. Teal'c merely lifted an eyebrow at this. Daniel, on the other hand, looked faintly amused.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, can we please get back to the topic at hand?" He shot Daniel another exasperated look. "Carter, did your chat with Mr. Harris answer any of our questions?"

She shook her head negatively. "He prefers Xander, Sir." That got an amused look from her CO while he told her that he'd remember that. "All we really talked about were 'safe issues.' We were basically talking about some of his past experiences in High School, with his friends and similar experiences." She looked down at her hands. She looked into Jack's eyes as she leaned in to whisper, "Are we going to interrogate him further? Personally, I don't think we should."

Jack gave her one of his patented grins. "The guy has connections all the way to The President. Besides, President Ryan is at the SGC. That means that Hammond will most likely have the information we want to know. So, if we're given clearance to the information, Hammond will most likely be the one to tell us." He seemed to consider that for a moment. "Or he'll have someone brief us." Carter became visibly more relaxed. A fact not missed on any of SG-1. She caught Jack's amused stare.

She actually blushed slightly before responding. "He did save my life, Sir. I don't really want to betray his trust." With that they all adjourned from their meeting place and went back to their seats.

Jack wasn't sure how he felt about Carter's reaction. At first, there had been a slight pang of jealousy. That was something he had learned to suppress immediately. However strongly he felt about Carter, she was directly under him in the chain of command. So, as long as he was part of SG-1, nothing could happen between them. A small smile came to his face as he recalled handing in his resignation. The kiss between him and Carter was still a strong memory that he treasured to this day. It was a shame that it had taken place while he was stuck in a time loop, and it was an action that he took just moments before the loop began all over again. If Teal'c had not been stuck in the loop with him, he would have been tempted to do it more than once. She certainly didn't seem to mind it.

He sighed to himself as he closed his eyes. He had no real reason to be jealous. For crying out loud, they had only known the kid for a short while. He wasn't too worried about someone else 'stealing' Carter away from him. Not that he wanted her alone, but hey, you can't help how you feel. Besides that, in the very short time that had known Xander, he sensed a kindred spirits of sorts. He couldn't explain it, but he immediately liked the kid. There were many qualities, such as loyalty, that seemed to be infused within his very being. Then, of course, there were the attempts at humor, his apparent appreciation of The Simpson's, how could he not like the kid? And, the man had saved Carter's life from 'something' and for that, he would be eternally grateful. He hoped, if circumstances permitted, that they would keep in contact once this was over. If nothing else, he was fairly sure it would lead to interesting times ahead. With that last thought, he allowed himself to fall into the light stage of sleep that was the norm from him. It was the same one that he had been awoken from just hours ago.

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Carter sat in her seat, staring straight ahead. Her mind, as usual, was going a mile a minute. However, what was not the norm was that she wasn't trying to solve some unsolvable puzzle. She was simply trying to calm herself. She had been 'off her game' as Jack would most likely call it, since she had come under attack.

She had been in battle situations many times before. Hell, it was almost a weekly occurrence. It was the fact that she was truly not expecting it that had her slightly on edge. What was pushing her even farther down that edge was who, or what her attacker was. It was so damn strong, and had a stench of death. That particular smell was something she hoped to never become accustomed to. No matter how many battlefields she happened upon. But the stench was up close, emanating from the 'thing' that was choking the life out of her as she unsuccessfully tried to fight it off. It was physically far stronger than it had any right to be. And as terrifying as that was, it was its visage that still chilled her to the bone.

Its eyes were a mix of pure gold and spots of red, as though they were the eyes of death. Feral ridges protruded above the eyes on its forehead. And its fangs, 'oh god, its fangs,' were just inches in front of her vision, just prior to the blurring of her vision as breathing became a problem. Its hands that were choking the life out of her were of the same temperature as the environment around her, and felt downright cold. Not that she noticed this originally, there was so much going on, it was only after she had begun to reflect on what had transpired did she recollect that little bit of information. She was going to die. And as much as she struggled, as much as she fought that thing, she knew it was inevitable. But then, she hadn't. And that was all due to the man sitting in the back of the plane.

It may have been the fact that he had saved her life, but she felt a connection with him. She hadn't known him long, but she immediately felt some connection between the two of them. Then he had woken up and they had been able to meet him. From the beginning he had reminded her of Jack. And that was something that she definitely didn't want to think about at the moment, as she had no idea how she felt about that, and there was no way in hell she was going to spend time reflecting on it either.

She had spent a short while talking to him. And she had to say; she was impressed. He had a charming quality about him. In the short time she had been talking with him, she had felt far more relaxed than she had since this had all started. He was definitely someone that she could see becoming friends with, she just hoped that circumstances would permit it once everything was said and done. But at the moment, that wasn't the foremost issue on her mind. No, for her own sanity, she had to know what the hell had attacked her. She felt as though she would never be able to close her eyes and find a minute of peace until she could at least put a label on that damned 'thing' that attacked her.

She took a calming breath and closed her eyes, willing the frightening images to subside for only a short while. She needed to know what was happening, but she would control her emotions for as long as needed. Doing so was who she was, and she'd be damned if that 'thing' took anything away from her. It may have been a slight struggle, but she was able to will herself into a light sleep. It may not have been completely restful, but it was definitely a start.

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Xander watched as the group broke up from their little meeting in the front of the plane. Everyone there seemed to be in deep thought as they took their seats. He watched as they seemed to stared off into space for a short while, before closing their eyes and allowing themselves to get some sleep.

Xander looked down at the portable DVD player that was still playing. He hadn't been paying attention to it for some time now. He was thankful that Jack had allowed him to use it, but decided to turn it off and stow it into the carry-on bag that Jack had placed the unit in earlier.

With that done, Xander stared out the window on the plane and pondered what was to come. He wasn't sure where this was all taking him. He just hoped it ended well, and that by some miracle, he didn't screw everything up for his friends and family.

Staring out the window, he could see the monotonous scenery, as beautiful as it was, of the top of the clouds. Soon, he found himself growing tired. He slowly closed his eyes and rested his head against the soft headrest. Within moments he was in a peaceful state of rest.


	13. Ch 13

To say that Xander was nervous would be a gross understatement. He had awoken approximately half an hour before they landed. An entourage of military all black Humvee vehicles greeted them.

The quiet ride was uneventful. When they had finally reached their destination, they were just outside a large mountain that was gated off. Quite a few military figures were present guarding the entrance.

He was told they were entering Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD HQ. He couldn't help but think, 'they do Deep Space Radar Telemetry from a within a mountain?' Sam had tried to explain what they did, and why in the world they had such a diverse group as their 'team.' Really now, a linguist/archeologist assigned to a Deep Space Radar Telemetry project, a classified project nonetheless, and they thought that was a good cover? Seriously, it would have been better had they lied about Daniel's profession.

His nervousness grew as he went through multiple checkpoints and into a huge military bunker. The fact that they went multiple sublevels down, just to get onto a second elevator, to go even further down, just increased his fears of never seeing daylight again. 'Great, I get to be Dead Boy, without actually being Dead Boy.'

Once the elevator had finally made it to its destination, he was greeted by the CO of the base, General Hammond. The man was quick to try and alleviate any fears he had, and told him that coming here was actually being considered a favor to someone very important that wanted to meet with him. Once he heard this, his nervousness was still there; it just shifted slightly. 'Who the hell would consider it a favor to have me visit a military base?' His nervousness evaporated as though it never existed the moment he noticed O'Neill's smirk. He was no longer nervous; he was simply very suspicious.

"Please, come with me son, there is someone who would very much appreciate having the chance to meet you." Xander merely lifted an eyebrow, as he had seen Teal'c done quite a few times. It wasn't done quite as well as the stoic Jaffa, but it got a few chuckles.

Xander decided in just a few moments that The General was a good man. His people seemed to have a good amount of respect for him. There also wasn't the feeling of being beneath him. The man was nothing like the people he had met from The Initiative. In fact, he had a fatherly, or perhaps grandfatherly, type tone. He quickly fell into step with the bald Texan as they made their way through the monotonous hallways.

Xander looked around, thinking to himself, 'I like the décor here. Definitely has a better feel than the sterile nature of The Initiative.' He had to give them that at least.

Xander was so wrapped up in his inner musings he didn't realize that the walk through the hallway with his entourage had just come to an end. The sound of General Hammond opening a door broke him from his reverie. Xander took a deep breath and stepped through the door to meet this mystery guest. He got about 4 paces into the room before he stopped dead in his tracks.

Alexander Levelle Harris, who had been fighting back the darkness for years, stood up and challenged the soulless Angelus, the most feared member of the 'Scourge of Europe, he had faced off a Hell Goddess, Demons, and so many things in between that meeting one mere mortal should not have garnered such a reaction, but he had gone through so many emotions in such a short period of time, that his utter shock was written clearly on his face. And that expression of shock may have lasted longer, had it not been for the large smirk that he could feel O'Neill sending his way.

The expression lasted on his face for only a few heartbeats before he schooled his features and continued walking towards the man who was standing with a hand out ready to be shaken. With a firm grip they shook each other's hands, and Xander couldn't help but think, 'I can't believe I'm shaking The President's hand!'

He would have continued on that line of thought, had it not been for the conditions that brought him here. President Ryan must have seen the change in his expression because he spoke suddenly.

"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Harris."

Xander's eyes widened slightly. "The honor and pleasure is all mine, Mr. President." He looked at their hands, which were still clasped. "And please, if you will, call me Xander." He couldn't believe he said that, but he abhorred being called Mr. Harris.

The President smiled at him. Releasing his hand he motioned to an empty seat, which Xander quickly took as The President took one next to him.

"If you so insist. And please, after all you've done, call me Jack."

Xander didn't know just what to think of that. He wondered how many people got to call The President by their first name, but that thought was quickly overridden by the sudden thought, 'Oh crap! The President knows about me, about us? Oh man, this can't be of the good.' Whatever panic was about to mount was dissipated as Colonel O'Neill spoke up.

"Can I call you Jack too?" He added in belatedly, "Sir?"

Hammond looked like he was about to have a coronary, but Xander couldn't help but to snicker as President Ryan looked directly at O'Neill, and simply said "No."

Jack had a crestfallen expression on his face when he heard that, though in truth he expected no less, but he had been observing Xander, and could see the kid was about to go off the deep end once he learned that The President, himself, knew whatever it was that had been classified.

He resigned himself for the ass chewing he was no doubt going to receive from The General once they were alone. That was until The President spoke up again.

"Though, I would like to thank you Colonel." Jack gave him a curious expression. The President just gave him a smirk of his own. "Four hours, who knew?"

Jack's eyes widened. "You won the betting pool, Sir?" He quickly glanced around the room. "Err, that's to say…eh…not that we would ever partake, or have, such a thing happening here…Sir."

The President's smirk simply deepened as he said, "Yes."

O'Neill seemed to search for a moment, not sure quite what to say. Finally he came to a decision. "And I still can't call you Jack?" He managed to put a little hurt in his voice as even Carter snickered lightly.

The President's smirk became a small smile, as he seemed to ponder it for a moment. Finally, he came to his own decision, and said. "Correct."

That got a snicker out of most of the room as General Hammond simply shook his head. Jack had only gotten back on base a few moments ago, and already the beginning of a headache was forming. It was on that note that he started ushering people out of the room, with O'Neill muttering about the 'unfairness' of the universe. The door was finally closed, leaving only Xander in the room with The President at the Head of the table and on his right, and General Hammond sat in the seat to the left of The President and across from Xander. Now, Xander knew, it was time to get down to business. The President, Jack, was the first to speak up.

"I know you must be wondering just how much we know." Seeing Xander nod he continued. "I'll be quite honest with you, we know just about everything. We've had you and your friends under surveillance since your junior year of high school." Seeing Xander was about to comment he held up his hand. "Please understand that the government was there to scout the area that was to become its base of operation for The Initiative. They never expected to happen upon you, only the Vampires and other Demons. And before you get upset about the Initiative, I feel the need to stress that The Initiative was NOT a military project. It was supposed to be, however another organization snuck in and stole it."

Xander listened as the President went on; he wasn't quite sure how to react. "How come The Initiative never knew about us, before hand." He wasn't about to tell who 'us' was before they told him just what they knew.

President Ryan noticed this and quickly slid a thin folder over to Xander. It had a very brief summary on all of the Scooby Gang, including new members. Xander skimmed through it and could feel his face becoming red with rage.

"How in the hell can you justify spying on us the entire time?" He shot both The President and General Hammond an incredulous glare. "And not once did you ever offer us assistance."

The President had the decency to look somewhat abashed. "I can't speak for everyone; seeing as how I just recently found out this information existed…"

"How long have you been 'in the know'?"

The President smiled sheepishly. "Since the previous night." Seeing Xander's shocked expression, he pressed on. "Please understand that gaining the knowledge of what you and your friends were doing is information that no one, in good conscience, could just ignore." He looked Xander straight in the eyes. "The information that we gained is very vital to national security." He continued in a far lighter tone. "And after the fiasco with The Initiative, everyone involved has been extremely reluctant to approach any of you. Trust me, I've been assured that most, if not all; information garnered is done through passive means. Though, some of it is quite detailed." The President actually gave him a brief smile. "It doesn't do well to make enemies of those who strive so hard to protect the entire world. And on behalf of anyone, and everyone, that I represent…Thank You."

Xander sat there in complete shock. His anger, while still there, was diminished greatly. And there was the fact that he was actually being thanked for everything he'd done. It was a rare occasion to receive a 'thanks' from anyone, but to receive one from The President of The United States? Well, to him it was a great deal.

He simply stood there in shock for a short moment before nodding and saying, "You're welcome."

With Xander now in a much calmer mood, The President went on to explain to him what he had told General Hammond earlier. How the NID had taken over the project. He explained who they were, what they were. How they were supposed to be a civilian branch that was a check, in the checks and balances system, to watch over the military. But they had become the black sheep of the black ops world. While the NID had some good uses, they tend to do things in a manner that most people with a conscience would never contemplate doing. And the agents that were spies, or 'Rogue' within their own ranks, were even worse.

He explained how some people in the military could be working for them without truly knowing it. Agents like Finn and his men were put in place and never truly knew whom their superiors were. Orders were orders, and the NID had spies everywhere. Orders could be given so they could get what they wanted, from where they wanted.

Apparently The Initiative was a Two-Part mission. The NID aspect of it was the capturing of the HSTs. The Rogue NID didn't differentiate between Hostile and Non-Hostile, they went after anything different; anything that could be hostile to the US. It was also the Rogue NID that created ADAM, and furthered their experimenting beyond better ways to kill the Demons.

He then went on to explain how the Military was going to be the ones in charge of The Initiative, but when they found out that the NID had slipped in, they were quick to classify all Intel they had gathered.

Xander was surprised to find out that he, and the rest of the Scoobies, was already a well-kept secret. To find out how many branches of the military wanted a piece of him; in a good way of course, was quite a boost to his self-confidence. Then to find out how highly classified the information about him became was quite a shock to him.

At the end of that little story, Xander was sure he didn't like the NID at all, Rogue or not, the NID was not to be trusted.

The President pulled the large suitcase from the floor that had the extremely sensitive data about Xander in it. He explained to Xander just what was inside, and to say that Xander was becoming pissed at just how detailed their information was would be quite the understatement.

More than once, during the meeting, Xander had to leave his seat and actually pace the table a few times just to calm down. This was just too unexpected. Once again, he had to ask himself, if there had been such a presence in Sunnydale then why did they never receive any help, especially when Buffy had died? Even with The Initiative fiasco, something should have been done. Beyond that, there were details in his file, and he believed it to be true for his friends as well, that were very personal to him. And to have the military not only know, but have it written in his own file, left him feeling violated.

It was a testament to The President's ability that he was, once again, able to keep Xander calm and collected as he was shown just how thorough they had been. He explained just how they had come by this information, and after a long while, Xander was able to get himself under control. When everything seemed to be back to normal, The President spoke up once again.

"Xander, I see how much you've done. And it is truly remarkable." He peered into Xander's brown eyes. "But, what made you decide to start, and keep, fighting in this 'war' in the first place?"

Xander seemed to withdraw into himself as he thought about answering this question. It was very, very personal to him. But in the end, he decided to go for broke.

"Well sir, you see…it all started with my friend, Jesse…"

It was something about The President, but Xander found himself pouring his heart out to the guy. Perhaps it was because not one single person had ever asked him before. But he talked. Some of it was merely going over what they already knew, but it was all from his perspective. Even though they refused, for their own reasons, to destroy the files pertaining to personal events in his life, he did gain some assurances.

Throughout the conversation he had gained assurance that anything and everything said here would never leave this room. He was also shown just how classified this information was, and that only an extremely limited amount of people would ever have access to these files. While it didn't completely placate him, Xander knew it was the best he was going to get.

The President had also assured him that they would never talk, and he had previously had his men sweep the place for any type of surveillance, and nothing was being recorded. Also, no one outside of this room would learn about his life without his permission.

If it became necessary, some personnel may be notified about the existence of Demons, nothing the government didn't know before, but it would be a sterile read, nothing from Xander's files. And for that, he was grateful.

In the end, both men looked at him with an expression of understanding, and a slight amount of awe. The President placed his hand on Xander's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. General Hammond sat back in his chair, looking completely drained, and gave Xander an accepting nod.

Nothing was said for a moment. The President and General Hammond glanced at one another and simply nodded their heads. The President put everything away with the exception of some form of technology that neither Xander, nor General Hammond could place.

General Hammond reached for the telephone in the center of the table. He picked it up the receiver and dialed an extension.

"Yes, Dr. Jackson?"

"…."

"Good. I want you to get out some material and come down to the War Room in 20 minutes." He glanced over at Xander who was giving him a curious look. "Bring the rest of SG-1 with you."

"…."

General Hammond smiled slightly. "Because, Dr, you and SG-1 are going to debrief Mr. Harris," He gave Xander an apologetic look noticing his slight wince. "On the Stargate project."

"…."

"Good, we'll be here." With that he hung up the phone.

He looked over to a completely confused Xander.

"Xander, once we have you sign some nondisclosure documents, you will learn about one of this world's most well kept secrets; almost to the extent of your own."

Xander's darker mood from telling his story earlier suddenly became a bit brighter. 'They trust me with their own secrets?' He smiled and nodded.

Hammond nodded in turn. "Truth be told, Xander, we're actually looking to recruit you here." Xander was about to respond, but was cut off by The President before General Hammond could respond again.

"We aren't going to take you away from your group. But I believe that once you learn exactly what it is that they do here, and just what we can offer your group…perhaps now, and perhaps in the future, you may change your mind. We are just asking you to hear us out."

Xander thought about it for a moment, before simply nodding.

The General leaned forward in his seat slightly. "I would also like to inform SG-1, that's Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, and 'Murray,' just what it is that's out there. Whether or not you go into your own story is up to you."

Xander sat there for a moment. "Murray isn't his real name, is it?"

"That's for him to tell you."

Xander simply nodded his assent. "You can tell them whatever you want about Demons and Vampires, especially since Sam was attacked by one earlier. But please, leave my life story out of it. I don't want them to know about my friends, and I don't want anyone to know about Slayers."

Hammond and President Ryan exchanged glances for a moment before nodding.

"Agreed."

Xander stared at the briefcase that was still placed in front of The President. He sighed and looked up at both men.

"If you have truly read my file then you have to know that I can't keep this from my friends." He motioned towards the closed briefcase. "If you want me to sign some papers that will make me swear that I won't reveal anything about this classified project, I will." He alternated, looking both men in the eyes. "So long as nothing here is a direct threat to my friends, I won't divulge any classified information. But, the fact that you have us under surveillance directly impacts my friends. And I won't agree to remain silent on it." This may be a risk, but after everything said here, he decided it was one worth taking.

Both The President and General Hammond made brief eye contact before nodding once again.

In unison, they said, "Agreed."

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It was several hours later, and Xander found himself standing in front of an active wormhole. He wasn't ashamed to admit it; he had flinched badly when that wormhole had engaged. Sam walked up next to him, but his eyes never went astray from the rippling effect the particles that formed the artificial wormhole were playing. It looked like a shimmering pool of silver and blue that was somehow defying gravity.

"That is the event horizon of the wormhole." Carter had tried to simplify everything to the best of her ability. She had lost him quite a few times during the debriefing. He was so much like Jack in some ways it was almost disturbing, in a completely amusing way. Xander looked at her expectantly as he slowly made his way up to it. He looked back at the shimmering pool as it rippled just inches from his face.

He gently reached out and traced his fingers along the smooth and cool 'surface' of the event horizon. He slowly reached his hand inside, and slowly withdrew it. He looked over at her with an expression of pure amazement.

"This is incredible. Can we go through it?" He was almost hopping around like a kid in a candy store.

General Hammond walked up the ramp with The President and the rest of SG-1 following. The other members of SG-1 took up places next to Xander while The General and The President stopped a few feet shy of them.

General Hammond had a small grin at the antics Xander was showing. "So, would you like to try joining us for a while?" SG-1 looked at him expectantly.

After their own quick debrief of 'things that go bump in the night' including a few anecdotes from Xander's life, and a short video from The Initiative showing experimentation on Vampires, SG-1 had formed a quick camaraderie with the young man.

Carter was just thankful that she could place who, and what, her attacker was. She could already feel the stress leaving her, and a million questions entered her mind. Some time soon, she was going to have to question him. It was a shame for Xander, but Dr. Jackson had a similar look in his eyes. Jack looked shocked, and only slightly disbelieving, while Teal'c, 'Murray hah!' was as stoic as ever.

Xander looked at their expectant faces, then looked back at President Ryan and General Hammond and gave them a smile that, for once, was truly genuine.

"I want some time to think everything over. I can't just leave one war to go to another without giving it some thought. But, as of now, I'd say…Yeah…I think that I want 'in' with you guys." The expectant looks from SG-1 turned into smiles thrown in his direction.

General Hammond nodded his head. This was great news as far as he was concerned.

"You take all the time you need, Son. Just remember, we are in a war here. So you will still have to pass some off-world certification courses, and then you'll get assigned to an SG Team."

Xander looked slightly worried. "Ah, if I do agree to work here, and if I do pass, do you know which team I'll become part of?"

Hammond looked at Xander and gave a quick glance to the people around him. His only response was a quick smile before he turned and left the room.

Jack placed his arm around Xander's shoulder and led him down the ramp.

With a smirk, Jack said, "And you thought your life was hell before…Welcome to my world!" He began to give his own chuckle, one that Xander was sure he didn't like.

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Xander had just had a short meal with SG-1, where both Dr. Jackson and Major Carter had relentlessly asked him question after question. This was a trend he hoped didn't get off the ground. Even though they were talking quietly, making the conversation private, he still didn't want to be constantly bombarded with questions. But, judging from Jack's huge ass smirk, this was light compared to what he was in store for. 'Oh, just beautiful.' He sighed. 'Nothing is ever easy.' He was now being escorted to see General Hammond. Jack led him to the door, before knocking briefly.

"Come in."

General Hammond looked up from his paperwork and gave Xander a brief smile. He then looked back at Jack and waved him out of the office, dismissing the colonel. Once the door was closed, he looked at Xander expectantly.

"Sir, I'd like to go back to Sunnydale and think on things for a short while. But, before that, there are a few things I would like to talk to you about."

Hammond gave him a curious glance. "Such as?"

"Well, Sir, You guys said earlier that you were reluctant to approach us because of our earlier dealings with The Initiative." Seeing Hammond's nod he continued. "But now we do know. And I'm here asking for help."

"What are you talking about? How can we help now?" Hammond looked thoughtful for a moment. "As far as I know, we don't have any personnel to send to your hometown. There are the teams comprised of ex-Initiative soldiers, but they don't actually report to The President. Well, not yet."

"No Sir, what we don't need people, well, not yet anyways." Xander sighed. "The trouble we have at the moment is money, or lack thereof." Xander's eyes grew tired. "With Buffy's mother dead, supporting her, her sister, and in fact everyone just isn't something that I'm prepared for. My job was something that was helping with the bills, as it will should I choose to work here, but it truly isn't enough. Any assistance that you may be able to give is sorely needed."

Hammond looked at him. A small smile appeared as he nodded his head. "I'll see what I can do."

With that, Xander left the room.

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It was the next day and Xander was en route to Sunnydale. He was surprised when he was told that his car that he had driven to Las Vegas had been picked up by the Air Force and brought to Sunnydale's only airport and was awaiting his arrival.

He was also surprised when he arrived at Sunnydale in the middle of the afternoon. He had received a sealed envelope addressed to him from General Hammond. He almost dropped the contents when he saw what was inside.

It appeared as though the government had paid off the mortgage to the house, and the house was now solely Buffy's property. If that wasn't enough, there was also an account for Sunnydale Savings and Loan for $200,000 dollars. His name was on the account at the main recipient. It also allowed Buffy and Willow to gain access to the account as well. Beyond that there was a note.

'_The contents within are yours regardless of whether or not you join us. Should you decide to join, there will be a bimonthly stipend set into this account for an amount to be specified later. Should you choose not to join us; more will be placed into the account when requested by you personally. This is being done to keep you in contact one-way or anther._

_On a personal note, I do hope you join us here. But should you decide to remain in the war you have been fighting for the past few years, know that you have our best wishes, and any assistance that we may provide, should it be possible to do so._

_Sincerely,_

_General George Hammond_

_USAF'_

Xander was definitely in a good mood as he drove home for a quick shower before seeing his friends. He assumed that Anya would be staying elsewhere, though with her, you could never be sure.

What he didn't expect to find was an empty apartment. His apartment was completely bare. No furniture, all of his electronics, his collectibles, even the damn shelving was gone. He stood there in shock for a moment before sighing and walking out the door.

He made his way over to Buffy's where he knew the rest of the gang was. And, he was correct. He was fist spotted by Willow, who gave him a quick punch on the shoulder, then hugged him fiercely crying onto his shoulder. She was babbling so quickly that even he had trouble translating.

Apparently Anya was once again Anyanka. 'Go figure, I guess I should only pray loosing all of my personal possessions to be the worst of it.'

The gang had all gone out searching for him, afraid of what Anyanka might do. And finding his trail ran cold in Las Vegas; they had begun to worry. Once everyone had calmed down he began telling them what had happened just prior to the wedding. They went on to tell him that the man was actually a past client of Anyanka's who was exacting revenge. Xander could feel himself becoming upset, but in the end, he knew that, even if the visions were untrue, his feelings were his own. And, in the end, he knew that he had made the correct decision. Though, the timing was still a shame.

Next up came telling the group about the military's presence in SunnyD, which they were most unhappy about. 'Real surprise there.' It took a lot of fast-talking, but he managed to keep everyone under control. Even Buffy, who he could see visualizing decapitating anyone spying on her, was brought down into the land of the fairly placated. He went on to tell them the truth about the people behind The Initiative. This had the effect of redirecting most of their ire towards those that Xander truly believed deserved it, the NID. From the looks in everyone's eyes, he knew that the NID better pray that they don't come into contact with anyone here, and with Tara giving off the same vibe, he was actually kind of shocked.

The next to last thing he brought up was the military wanting to help however they could, now that they had been revealed. He presented Buffy with her 'Gifts' and to see everyone in almost giddy happiness was something that completely warmed his heart. He was looking out for 'his girls.'

The last part was what he believed to be the hardest to bring up. He had told them of the military's desire for him to become a 'consultant.' He had figured that with the entire trust issue the gang had, there would be much arguing. But, to his shock, there wasn't. No one would be glad to see him go. But in most of their eyes this would have many advantages.

With everything happening with Anya, they figured keeping him away from Sunnydale might be a wise decision. And when he told them how bare his apartment was, they couldn't agree more. Second, though neither Buffy nor Willow would say it, they wanted him away from the action, where he might get hurt. 'A little ironic perhaps.' Though, there was no way for them to know since he didn't tell them about what he would be doing, or anything having to do with the Stargate. Their final reason for him to go actually choked him up. The sincerity in their words, and the very thought, almost made him tear up. The fact that it was Buffy who spoke made it all the sweeter.

"Xander, I'm not sure if I can trust the Military. But I know that I can, and I will, always trust you. So…if we're going to be doing anything with them, then it's you that we're going to trust to help us with them. I hope you know how much we'll miss you if you go."

Turning to look at his friends, his family, he gave a short sigh. "I think I'll need at least a night to sleep on it.

That day brought them all closer together as they simply hung out together. Talking about times from the past, and generally just wasting time. Soon enough it was night time, and the 3 original Scoobies found themselves patrolling, just like the good old days.

Later that night, Xander found himself claiming Buffy's couch, as his apartment had no furnishings. He wanted to get some rest, but he simply couldn't. What was he going to do with the rest of his life?


	14. Ch 14

Ok people…I wanted to write this concept down…this is going to be 'The Main Event' that will shape Xander in this Fic…it's what will take my favorite character…and make him into one of the 'unique people' (though I do believe his ability to be Normal Guy makes him unique…and was one of his best features…I decided not to go that route in this fic…so…here's what I got planned….enjoy!)

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Xander sat in one of the comfortable chairs at the debriefing table. The last 8 weeks had been grueling and hard. The SGC needed to make sure that he was 'off-world certified.'

Basically that meant a myriad of classes, exercises of every variety. Everything was reviewed, from learning how to live in the wilderness, to all forms of combat. Whether it was learning to use small arms, to unarmed combat, all was taught until you were passable. And by passable they meant truly proficient.

Xander sat back and had to smile as he reflected on the beginning of his certification. By this point the members of SG-1 had been cleared to know about the things that 'go bump in the night.' Only Jack had been somewhat skeptical. But, in the end, even he was convinced. It had only taken a couple of hours and some video footage, that Xander was still extremely sore over, which had done the job.

After that it was decided that he would become the 5th member of SG-1, being that they were the only others with some knowledge of Xander's past. So, once he had signed his life away he was placed in a training program.

The beginning of this program had started much to his favor. The entire point of it was to work you harder than you had ever worked before. And, suffice it to say, the instructor had grossly underestimated Xander's strength, endurance, and stamina.

The instructor had watched as Xander was able to take down marine after marine for the first round. Then, when they no longer underestimated him, their skill overcame him every time and he would find himself on his ass.

They were extremely impressed with how hard he pushed himself. He was able to run distances, and put himself under punishment that went beyond anything they would expect from their marines. With the proper training he would make an excellent soldier.

Xander, on the other hand, pushed himself to the point of exhaustion every single day. He relished in the lessons that were being forced upon him. Memories from a Halloween that had long since been buried began to awake. To say that the memories of 'Soldier Boy' were coming to the surface would be overstating things dramatically. However, when it came to most of the survival, and combat training it felt more as though he were relearning these skills, as opposed to learning it for the first time.

Teal'c had commented on his abilities. He was pleased to make his strength and stamina comparable to that of any First Prime. Xander, for his part, just told him that he had been fighting against enemies that were, on average, at least 4 times stronger and faster than your average human. Teal'c, at that point, had decided to take Xander as his personal student. He would train the child in all forms known to him, and those forms he was currently learning. Whether it be a skill of combat, tracking, or meditation, he would make Xander into a proud warrior.

Xander was quite eager to learn. He was very thankful to the former First Prime of Apophis. There was one down side though. His current combat instructor, Major Victoria Falls, was very attractive, and he was having a great time under her tutelage. Oh well, no one ever told him he could have only one instructor.

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Two months had passed and he was deemed fit to go off-world. Hell, he had passed every category in their program with flying colors. He was considered an expert marksman with most small arm weapons. He was coming along beautifully in unarmed combat. It was hard to believe, but his strength, stamina, and endurance had increased dramatically as well. Some people almost considered it abnormal, but he wasn't complaining.

Now it was all over, and he found himself with many congratulations from most personnel on the base. The fact that he was in good graces with the CO of the facility and its flagship team, helped him earn the respect of his comrades. His humorous personality, and ever-present uplifting personality made getting to know, and like him, a sure thing.

Yep, things were looking up for him. Now he just had to survive actually going through the gate. And that was why he currently found himself lounging in a chair in 'The War Room.' The other four members of SG-1 and General Hammond were present and the pre-mission debrief was about to begin.

"I'd like to congratulate you once again on a job well done." General Hammond sent him a small smile. "I'm pleased that you will now be able to travel off-world with the rest of SG-1."

O'Neill smirked at him. "Oh, it's going to be a blast. We're going to get to look at walls and rocks!" There was a definite mock cheerfulness in his voice.

Hammond gave him a stern glance and barked, "Colonel!" Jack simply mumbled a 'Sorry Sir.' It was at that point that Daniel picked up the conversation.

"The 'walls' that we will be studying," He sent an annoyed glance over at Jack who was simply smirking back. "The walls are covered in writings that are from The Ancients dialect." He looked over at Xander. "We now know that The Ancients are the race of people that built the Stargate. It's always a great find when we can gather Intel on anything about them. Whether it's technology or writings left behind on a wall, it's all important."

Jack cleared his throat. "Though, you should be careful whenever you find yourself somewhere that has Ancient writing on the walls, or anywhere for that matter."

From Xander's curious expression, Major Carter picked up the conversation. "On a previous mission we encountered a device of The Ancient's. It reacted when Colonel O'Neill approached it. It downloaded a lot of information into his brain." She cast a quick glance at her CO. "And while giving beneficial information, it was slowly killing him." She paused for a brief moment and glanced again in Jack's direction. "We believe it was slowly shutting his brain down, like a computer overload. If it weren't for the Asgard, he would most likely be dead right now."

There was a brief moment of silence in the room until Xander shook his head.

"So, right, stay way from any Ancient devices I may come across. Got it."

Jack smiled at the kid. "See, I told you he was a smart one." Before Xander could make a comment, one way or the other, Sam began to speak up once more.

"We do have to be careful though. The Tok'ra have sent word that the planet we are visiting, falls close to territory already proclaimed by Ba'al. And while we have found no evidence of the Goa'uld ever being there, it is possible for him to show up."

As soon as she said that, a very bad feeling began to form in Xander's gut. 'I hope I'm just being paranoid. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about….Yea Right! We are so screwed.'

He looked over next to him and found a similar look going across Colonel O'Neill's face as well. It was at that point that General Hammond stood up.

"At 0900 hours tomorrow you will be traveling to planet P3X-492. Now, get some rest people." And with that all the members of SG-1 left the room. And with the exception of Teal'c, they were all giving him reassurances as to how everything would be fine. Teal'c simply walked silently in his stoic manner. And when eye contact was made, he merely raised his eyebrow slightly.

Oh yea, they were screwed.

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Next Day, Planet P3X-492

Could he call it? Or could he call it?

Xander was running as fast as he could. It was almost as though Ba'al's forces had set up an ambush for them. If it hadn't been for Teal'c and his early warning, they would all be dead now. But that wasn't the case. Right now they were running for their lives. Or a tactical retreat, as Jack seemed to be calling it. The main problem was that they were heading away from the gate.

Xander and Teal'c were running in the lead. The rest of SG-1 was following a few feet behind. And Jack had to say; he was impressed. Of all the members of SG-1, it was only Xander who got injured. And that was because he had tackled Daniel to the ground moments before a fatal shot from a Goa'uld Staff Weapon would have made contact. Instead of it killing Dr. Jackson, it had hit Xander in the back of the shoulder. And moments later, the kid was up and fighting. Then, they were all up and running.

More than that, they were running, and the kid was keeping pace with Teal'c.

They made their way to what appeared to be a cave entrance. Xander, and Teal'c spotted it at almost the same time. When they reached the inside of the entrance they were surprised to see the walls made out of an alloy that was most definitely not rock.

It was made out of some alloy, and beyond that, there were engravings of the same Ancient dialect throughout the chamber. Jack took a look around and knew something was going to happen here.

"Ok everyone. Be careful, and stay away from the walls. I don't want anyone to wind up getting their brain messed with." Everyone grumbled their acceptance and tried to be as careful as possible.

Daniel, being the historian that he is, quickly pulled out his camcorder and quietly filmed the area around him. Jack sent an irritated look his way, but in the end, he couldn't blame his little space monkey. This was far too juicy for him to give up. He just hoped that if Ba'al's Jaffa were able to find them, Daniel would willingly leave. He'd hate to have to knock him unconscious and drag his butt back to Earth. While he was distracted by Daniel and his inner musing, he wasn't paying attention to where he should have been. And that was on Xander.

Xander decided to take the Colonel's words to heart and stay away from the walls. That was why he began to make his way into the center of the room. Had he been paying closer attention to the floor, he would have noticed the large circle light up as he passed over the circumference. As soon as he did that, the entire circle on the floor glowed and his world was forever changed.

Sam jerked in shock as she noticed the floor directly under Xander light up. Xander suddenly stiffened as she yelled, "Sir!" As Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c turned to face her, the room began to power up. A soft hum could be heard running throughout and, at the entrance, a force field could be seen wavering into existence.

All around Xander different holographic displays began coming to life. Where, or how they were being projected, no one knew, but they were there. And Xander was apparently being affected by it.

Some words in the Ancient's dialect began to appear on some of the displays. Daniel quickly went over to see what he could do, but whatever the messages were, new ones would appear before he could even begin to translate the past ones.

Daniel looked up. "Teal'c, come over here and record this. If I can't make this out now, I want to be able to take a look at it later." The Jaffa shook his head and went to capture what was happening on Dr. Jackson's camcorder.

Just as Teal'c began to film what was happening, a bright light, similar to an Asgard transporting beam, filled the circle. As the light dissipated, Xander could be seen hovering almost a foot in the air, seemingly unconscious. Beyond that, Xander was now naked.

Horizontal strips of multi-colored lights began to scan Xander's body. New messages began to scroll on some of the displays and a whole new hologram appeared. This one seemed to be a representation of Xander's body.

Of all the words that were being relayed on the holographic screens, one phrase seemed to stay in place. Doctor Jackson took a closer look at it. His eyes became wide and he looked over at Jack.

"I think it is saying, and this is a loose translation, but I think it says 'Phase 1 in progress.'" As they looked back at Xander, the lights began to continually scan his body. More and more of these horizontal rings of light began to focus on various parts of his body. The most concentrated portion of them was where he had been injured by the staff blast.

The lights began to oscillate quicker, and picked up more speed. And right before their eyes, Xander's wound began to heal at an extremely rapid pace. It wasn't just that one wound, all of his wounds, old and new, were being repaired. From all the physical abuse he took as a child, to the injuries he took on fighting Vampires, and Demons almost every night, they were all being healed in a matter of moments. And as nice as that all was, Colonel O'Neill had to speak up.

"Carter, how do we stop this? We have no idea what it's going to do. I do not want something happening to the kid. Especially since we're stuck here until reinforcements arrive."

Sam looked up at him from where she had been shooting worried looks at Xander, to studying the displays in front of her. "Sir, even if I did know how to stop this thing, I don't think I would do it." From Jack's cross look she hastened to continue. "Sir, whatever it's doing to him. Shutting it off when it's already begun, but hasn't finished, could be far more harmful than letting it do whatever it is doing. Sir, whatever it's doing is having a very physical affect on his body. I'd be loathed to stop it prematurely."

Jack thought about it for a moment and finally nodded his acceptance. He just prayed that whatever was happening wouldn't wind up killing the kid. Just as he concluded this thought, the scan finished, and a whole new one began with a whole new set of displays.

"Ah, Jack!" Daniel said in trepidation. "I think this says, 'Phase one complete, Phase two initiating.' Or something thereabout."

Jack just shook his head, they were so screwed. 'Oh please let the kid be ok.' He thought with a defeated sigh. That was when Carter called for his attention.

"Sir, I think you need to see this." He made his way over towards Carter, who was staring at the display with her eyes almost bulging out of her head. If she actually noticed his arrival, he truly couldn't say. "Sir, this is a representation of a strand of human DNA."

Jack looked between her and the display. He was getting annoyed. "And!" He basically shouted.

"And, sir, its changing it." Now Jack's eyes were almost bulging out of his head.

"What? How?" His face began to go red. He was desperately looking for a way to turn this thing off. "Daniel! Tell me you can turn this damn thing off without killing him." He motioned up to the still hovering form of Xander, who hadn't even moved a micrometer since this began.

Daniel looked at him with a helpless expression on his face as he shook his head 'No.' Jack quickly turned back to Sam.

"Tell me you have an idea of what the Hell this thing is doing to him." He sounded almost desperate. This wasn't supposed to happen, especially not on a first time out. This was more of a second, or perhaps third mission event.

"Perhaps sir, but keep in mind that this is NOT my field of expertise." Jack just nodded at her to continue, so she did. "Sir, it looks like its compacting the strands, changing them slightly. I can't be positive, but this thing may be advancing, or evolving his body."

Jack just stood there in shock for a moment. "Ok, and who didn't see that one coming?"

Just as he said that, the displays altered once again. This time the horizontal rings of light focused mainly on his head while a few swept his body.

"Sir, we are now entering phase three." Jack almost blew up when Daniel said that.

"There's a phase 3 now? What the Hell else are they going to do to him?" Jack looked around with an incredulous expression. A quick flicker of motion caught his attention and he looked towards the cave entrance. Right at the base of it were two Jaffa on the ground either unconscious or dead. He really didn't care which. Standing next to them was a third who seemed to be shouting at them, or perhaps for reinforcements. Seeing as how the room was apparently sound proof, he couldn't really tell. He gave the Jaffa a cheeky smile and a quick wave. Just as he finished waving, Daniel's voice brought him back to the problem at hand.

"Jack, I think we have a new problem."

The glare he was sending his way could have melted steel, but Daniel simply brushed it off. "What could possibly make this situation worse, Daniel?" He basically dared him not to take his statement back.

Daniel didn't seem to get it as he pointed to some words that were in flashing red.

Jack hung his head. Flashing red is never a good sign. "For cryin' out loud! What does it say?"

Daniel looked between the display, Xander, and Jack a few times before answering. "I think a near enough translation would be, "Low Battery."

Jack finally exploded. "WHAT?" He looked quickly at Carter. "Sam, tell me you got something for me."

Major Carter simply shook her head. "Sir, this has just gone so far above me, I have no clue. Give me some time to study it, and then maybe I'll have something for you."

Jack counted to ten to try and calm himself. "Just humor me, please?"

She simply sighed. "Sir, it seems to be doing a few things now. It's affecting something within his DNA; perhaps even a DNA to his DNA, I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this." She pointed up towards the lights focused on his head. "I believe those are doing something to the pathways in his brain, but I haven't a clue how, or what it's doing. For that, you'd have to talk to Janet."

Jack just shook his head. "But she isn't here right now, is she?" Just as he said that the horizontal lights that were scanning Xander vanished, the display in front of Daniel turned green. All eyes went over to him.

"Ah, I think it says, 'Process Complete.'" There was a definite smile on his face. That smile quickly vanished once the power went out.

Xander's body landed on the ground with a very audible thump. The room that was once soundproofed and guarded by a force field was no longer protected. And it was at that moment that all hell broke loose, as Xander lay motionless on the floor.


	15. Ch 15

I don't usually write anything before the beginning of a new chapter. However, after reading Ashes2Ashes review I had to say...I couldn't agree more. That is why I have updated chapter 13. In Microsoft Word it has about 4 pages of new material. I also went into some of the prior scenes and changed some of them as well. I hope that this places Xander more within character. Thank you Ashes2Ashes for pointing that out. (And now that I said this...I hope that actually updated it before people start looking...ah well...it'll be there, if it's not already.) Anyways...take a look and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading...and enjoy the new chapter!

Marc D.

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SG-1 found themselves inside a Goa'uld holding cell. Once the power had gone out and the force field had vanished, they had been swarmed with Jaffa. O'Neill knew that there was no way to get out of this situation, especially with Xander being unconscious and all.

He looked down at the still sleeping man. He chuckled to himself. 'Damn kid, do you realize that you slept through most of the excitement last time too?' He reflected back on finding Xander passed out in the Alley after saving Carter's life. At least this time it wasn't due to alcohol and being beaten up by a vampire. No, now Xander has found a whole new way to get himself knocked out. If they survived this, Jack was sure he was in store for some interesting times. He just hoped that machine hadn't hurt the kid.

The members of SG-1, who were still awake, had been worried that Ba'al would come and take Xander from them. As of yet, it seemed that the Goa'uld had not been informed of what had transpired in that room. But, their fears were apparently warranted. A few Jaffa filed into the cell with their weapons at the ready.

Two of the guards picked up Xander's still form and carried him to their god. Ba'al stood at the entrance to the cell and led his loyal Jaffa out of the room. In the background one could hear Jack's protests before he was hit with one of their pain sticks.

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Xander began to swim back into the land of the conscious. Immediately he felt as though his body was on fire and his head was being hammered upon as though it was a ripe melon. And as quickly as those sensations came, they dissipated, causing Xander to stiffen in place. That had the affect of throwing the two guards hauling him behind Ba'al to go off-balance and fall to the ground.

With a reaction time that would stun him when he had time to think about it later, he had taken in the entire scene. He realized that he was in a large room with a few tables that had some form of alien attachments next to it. It looked like something Dr. Frankenstein would drool over.

In just another brief moment the memories of what had happened, in what they had first thought of as a cave, assaulted his mind. He was quick to realize that he no longer had the injuries he sustained before entering the supposed cave. Beyond that, he couldn't remember feeling so good. And in that moment, he failed to notice the guard behind him lunging at him with a dagger.

At the last possible moment he moved slightly. This had the effect of turning a fatal wound into a merely annoying, yet painful one. And, as it happened, in the same damn spot he had been shot earlier.

In a few quick movements the guard was out cold on the floor. Without even thinking he pulled the dagger from his shoulder and let out a small scream of pain while doing so. He watched in mute fascination as his skin could be seen visibly healing itself. While it wasn't immediate, he knew that within little time he would be completely healed. And as the wound healed itself, the pain diminished rapidly. He was still staring at the wound when he heard a Zat'nikatel being primed.

He looked up just in time to see the weapon being discharged directly at him. It hit him full on, causing him to back up a step while his knees buckled slightly. But to the astonishment of the self-proclaimed god and his loyal subjects, that sensation only lasted a short moment before he righted himself.

Without hesitation, as to not test the 2 shot rule, he threw the dagger he had pulled out of his shoulder. Without really knowing if he intended the dagger to do so, it embedded itself into the throat of the Jaffa. The guard was dead before he hit the ground.

With two quick and well-placed kicks, specifically shown to him by Teal'c, both guards that had been thrown to the ground were rendered unconscious. With that done he sent a withering glare to the Goa'uld who was still wearing a smug expression.

Xander calmly walked over to the dead Jaffa and retrieved his Zat. All the while Ba'al looked on with an amused air. Xander primed the weapon and fired it at the false god. The energy harmlessly splashed off of an energy field and dissipated harmlessly around him.

Xander placed the Zat in a holder he still had on his fatigues. He slowly advanced on the Goa'uld as its eyes glowed in an eerie gold color before its bass voice reverberated around the room.

"Truly impressive. A Hok'tar." A smile, that would look better suited to a shark, appeared on its face. "I will take much pleasure in taking you apart and learning all I can." Its metallic laughter echoed throughout the room. "Once my current host has been 'upgraded' you will make a fine host for a lieutenant."

Xander sneered up at the arrogant bastard. "You talk to damned much."

Ba'al returned the sneer with one of his own. "And you don't scream nearly enough."

With that proclamation Ba'al raised his hand. The ribbon device, that all System Lords habitually wore, began to glow a deep red. A burst of energy was spewed from the device.

As if by instinct Xander raised his hand as to ward off the attack of energy. Again, to the astonishment of both parties, it actually worked.

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

Ba'al raised his hand once more and put far greater concentration into controlling the ribbon device. The pulse was far greater this time.

Xander, with his hands still extended, warded off the energy. Whatever wall that seemed to be blocking the intended victim of the energy burst began to push Xander backwards. Xander renewed his concentration and began to push back.

A swirl of energy could be seen forming as it continuously changed course. It would slowly proceed towards Xander only to begin to return to its sender. With a scream of primal rage, Xander splayed his fingers. The energy circled on itself before going full force into the one that had originally called it forth.

Ba'al rocketed through the air a good twenty feet before he collided with the wall with a sickening thud. Some of the marble, or whatever stone the walls were made of, actually cracked. Ba'al's body slumped to the ground.

Xander walked up to the System Lord. His Zat out once again. He placed his foot firmly on the hand with the ribbon device. When there was no reaction to this movement he took it off of the Goa'uld and placed it on his own hand.

He quickly bent down to check for a pulse. He wasn't sure if he sighed out of assurance or relief as he found one. The thought of killing the menace briefly entered his mind. But he had never killed simply in cold blood.

He backed away from the hapless figure slumped on the ground. He closed his eyes briefly and willed the ribbon device active. He could feel the power welling up in the device. At the last moment he turned on his heals, deciding not to discharge the weapon. If anyone was going to make this call, it was Colonel O'Neill. It was simply one he wasn't ready for. He could barely look at the blood that was pooling around the one Jaffa that he had already killed without feeling somewhat nauseous.

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Xander had made it down the long hallway before he was confronted with two guards pointing weapons at him. He closed his eyes briefly before saying something that both Teal'c and Jack had told him may give him a moment as the Jaffa may be thrown off guard. However, he was planning on doing something slightly different with it. Looking at the guards straight in the eyes. He spoke in an authoritative manner.

"Jaffa Kree!"

Both guards looked at each other briefly, a good time to strike. But Xander remained still. They seemed to both come to the same conclusion as they both began to slowly advance on him. Xander simply raised his hand and hit the guard on the left with a small burst of energy from the ribbon device. The guard slid across the floor where he laid unconscious. Once again, Xander looked upon the guard, who was staring at him in wide-eyed terror. In the same authoritative manner, though this time it was tinged with a promise of misfortune should he be disobeyed, he spoke.

"Jaffa Kree!"

The Jaffa stared at him for a moment, seemingly frozen in place. It had just seen the man do something only a god could do. Though he could not sense his god within the man, only a god could use such magic. That meant that Ba'al, his all knowing and all powerful god, had created this man as a new lord. One that could not be sensed. It made sense. For there was nothing his lord could not do. The Jaffa held his weapon in a ready position and saluted his new lord. He simply stayed in a humble position until the young lord would give him instructions.

Xander watched as the Jaffa stiffened then saluted him. He waited for a moment as the guard remained in the same position. After a moment he spoke.

"Take me to the Tau'ri prisoners."

The guard bowed slightly and turned on his heels, making his way down the hallway. About halfway down there was a slight opening. What was placed on a table there made Xander smile.

"Kree Jaffa."

The Jaffa turned around awaiting his command. Xander walked over to the table that had, what appeared to be, Daniel's backpack on it. Glancing inside he found the video camera and some books, a few odds and ends, but no weapons. He sighed, but took the bag anyways. With that done both men made their way down the corridor and to the cells.

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Xander entered a step behind the Jaffa. Once he was noticed the guards protecting the cells raised their weapons at him. Before he could even have a chance to speak the Jaffa in front of him fired a warning shot at the others.

"Do not attack your lord."

The other member's of SG-1 gave each other worried looks. One of the Jaffa guarding the cells advanced towards Xander and the other Jaffa, clearly protesting his claim. Before he could get halfway there a burst of energy shot forth from the ribbon device sending the advancing Jaffa crashing into the far wall and sending him off into the land of nod.

Xander looked at another Jaffa guarding the cell. "Open the gate and release them." There was no hesitation on his behalf. Once this was done, he looked at the other Jaffa and ordered them to leave. After the mass exodus it was only SG-1 and the first Jaffa to remain.

Teal'c quickly advanced on them, knocking the stunned Jaffa out, and placing Xander in a locked position.

"Well T, it's good to see you too. Though really, I'm not your type." Xander looked up with an amused expression. "Hey Carter, you want to try this instead?"

Jack would have smirked if it weren't for the surreal, not to mention depressing, events that were taking place. First mission and the kid was taken as a host. He did not have a clue what he was going to tell Hammond, should he be able to get out of this. Oh Crap! What was he going to tell The President? He was not looking forward to getting back home.

Sam, for her part, just stared morosely at the man she believed to have been taken over by a Goa'uld. The way he commanded the Jaffa, and the way he used the Ribbon Device, it was the only viable conclusion. At least, that was what she thought until she saw Teal'c stiffen and let him go.

"Xander?" The stoic former first prime asked.

"Yea?"

Teal'c studied him for a moment before turning to the rest of his team.

"O'Neill, I feel no symbiote within him."

Jack got a hopeful look in his eyes as Sam took a few cautious steps closer. She turned around toward her CO with a smile on her lips and nodded her agreement. She then reminded herself that she would need to give Xander a good smack in the head, discreetly of course, for what he said earlier. That was when the Jaffa on the ground began to moan.


	16. Ch 16

A familiar chirping sound filled the room. All of the members of SG-1 glanced over towards Xander as he fired a shot into the Jaffa, who was slowly regaining consciousness. Once the guard was once again unconscious, he gave the others a brief smirk.

"What? He was about to disturb a precious moment?"

Jack just shook his head and motioned for the Zat gun. Xander was quick to give it to him. However, as he reached his hand to grab the device from his young friend, the pain he had been experiencing since being on the business end of a Goa'uld pain stick decided to make its presence known.

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As Xander reached out to give the Zat to Colonel O'Neill, he noticed the grimace of pain the Colonel expressed. Without thinking, he was quickly by his CO's side, trying to support the man who seemed to be in pain.

"Colonel, what's wrong?"

When O'Neill wouldn't answer, Xander glanced over to the other members of SG-1. It was Sam who answered.

"He was protesting while they were taking you away. One of the guards used a pain stick on him."

Xander looked at his CO in mute shock. He didn't truly have a great understanding of Goa'uld technology. Sam had shown him the few pieces of Goa'uld technology that the SGC had accumulated. She had actually displayed the healing device, and the ribbon device. She had told him how difficult it was for her to actually use the technology, and that it was impossible to use the technology without having some trace elements of naquada, which is a byproduct given off from a symbiote blending with its host, in your bloodstream.

He had no real clue as to how horrible it must be to be on the business end of a pain stick, but judging from the pain his CO seemed to be in, he knew it was probably worse than he had imagined. He just wished there was something he could do.

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Jack was trying to concentrate on suppressing the pain. It was something he had done on many times before. Hell, this wasn't even the worse injury he had incurred before. His entire body was wracked with pain, but he knew he had to overcome it.

That was when the feeling began. It was a feeling of warmth. The pain that was searing through every nerve in his body began to diminish into nothing. He concentrated on that feeling, and was somewhat surprised to find that he could feel it flowing from the hand that was placed in his shoulder, trying to help steady him. Upon further inspection, it was Xander's hand.

As the feeling of warmth and peace began to spread, Jack noticed that it wasn't just the newly acquired pain that was fading from his body. His knees, which had suffered from years of abuse, lost all the pain that was a habitual feeling for him. The dull and constant ache that had become a permanent part of his life was suddenly gone. He felt energized, rejuvenated even.

As the feeling of warmth began to recede he straightened his posture. All elements of pain or discomfort seemingly obliterated. All the members of SG-1, including Xander, were looking at him in shock. 'He doesn't have a clue.' He looked his young friend in the eyes, gave him a brief grin before giving him a pat on the shoulder and taking the Zat from him. 'I don't think I want him freaking out here.' With that decision made, Colonel O'Neill began to take command of the situation. He took a step towards the still unconscious guard before turning back towards Xander.

"What happened to Ba'al?"

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Xander wasn't quite sure what was going on. In one moment Colonel O'Neill seemed to be in great pain. Then, there was a brief feeling of warmth emanating from O'Neill's shoulder. And no more than a few moments later, the Colonel was as good as new.

Whatever shock he was feeling from this surreal experience quickly became relief as Colonel O'Neill assumed command of the operation. As The Colonel took the Zat from him and took a step towards the downed Jaffa, the adrenaline that had been flowing through his system began to recede. His semi 'fight or flight' mentality began to recede with it. That was when O'Neill proceeded to ask him a simple question, which came close to putting Xander in a state of shock.

"What happened to Ba'al?"

His first thought was that the Goa'uld was alive but unconscious. Then he began to replay the scenes from earlier in his mind.

Thinking back, he remembered being able to take in the entire situation with a great ease. He also recalled the surprise he felt when he realized that he no longer had the injury from the staff blast he received while trying to protect Dr. Jackson. He could still recall how his musings almost cost him his life. A Jaffa had lunged at him with a dagger. He had managed to avoid the fatal wound, but the Jaffa still managed to thrust the dagger into his shoulder, the same one that had received the blast from a staff weapon.

He had reacted quickly. Knocking out the guard and pulling out the dagger had been done by reflex. But now that he had time to think about it, his wound healing in front of his own eyes was definitely not a normal occurrence. It was not natural. In fact, the rate in which his wound was healing was far greater than the supernatural healing ability displayed by a Slayer.

Beyond that, he had been shot by a Zat gun. It should have rendered him unconscious. But it hadn't. There had been some pain, but he was quick to recover. In fact, the pain inflicted by the dagger had dissipated soon after pulling it out.

Xander almost shivered as he glanced down at his shoulder. He pushed some of his fingers through the tear in his uniform. Under the tear he could feel unblemished skin. This was surreal. It was almost as surreal as what had happened after he had neutralized all of the Jaffa in the room.

Ba'al had tried to use the ribbon device to kill him. And somehow, he had countered Ba'al's efforts. With some unseen force, he was able to not only hold off the destructive power of the ribbon device, but to launch that energy back at the user.

No person, especially one without naquada in their system, should be able to control the device. Is that what he did? Did he control the device, even when he wasn't wearing it? He had no real idea. But anything that he could think of in this brief moment left him feeling completely out of place. Something was wrong with him.

He wasn't a host. He was in complete control of his body. But the last thing he remembered was being in that chamber that had masqueraded as a cave. The floor had lit up under his feet for an instant, and then all was black. When he awoke, he was different. Something must be wrong with him.

He looked down at Ba'al's ribbon device that he was now wearing. He could will it to activate. And he knew that was something that he should not be able to do. Oh yes, something was definitely wrong.

Xander could feel the room begin to spin around him. Emotions began to overwhelm him. Uncertainty, desperation, and fear were the predominant emotions wracking his body, his very soul. That was when a hand grabbed him and shook him out of his reverie.

Staring into Jack's concerned eyes; he closed his own and took some deep cleansing breaths. He had been in tight situations before, when there was a great deal of uncertainty. Though at those times, he had the rest of the Scoobies by his side. Now, he had SG-1. He hoped that they would be enough.

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Jack did not like the change in demeanor that Xander was showing. At one moment he was almost smirking at him. In the next, it seemed as though the kid was going to hyperventilate. He saw the kid begin to go inwardly into himself, and acted before the kid had some sort of mental breakdown.

In just a few moments, Xander seemed to collect himself. Well, to the best of his abilities, and answered his previous question.

"I left Ba'al alive. He was knocked out and his pulse was weak." He opened his eyes again. "I just couldn't finish it."

Jack knew there was more to it than he was being told. But at the moment, the most important thing was to get out of this base. It wasn't that he didn't love being captured, because that was always a fun time, but he definitely did not want ANY Goa'uld getting his hands on the kid. And he would do whatever was necessary to ensure that didn't happen.

"It's ok, Xander. It wasn't our mission. Let's just concentrate on finding a way out of here."

Xander looked around. "Where exactly are we?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "We have been transported to Ba'al's home world, Xander Harris."

O'Neill looked optimistic. "The Stargate?"

Teal'c looked over at him. "Will be most heavily guarded, O'Neill."

Xander looked down at the still form of the guard and then at the ribbon device still on his had. An idea began to quickly form.

"Colonel," he sighed. "Can I have the Zat back please?" From the Colonel's curious gaze, he elaborated. "I think we can use sleeping beauty over there," pointing at the still unconscious guard, "to get us out of this mess."

O'Neill looked at him for a brief moment before handing the Zat to him. Xander quickly placed it back in its holster. He then directed Jack, Carter, and Dr. Jackson to stand together in the corner. They were quick to comply. He then looked over to his right.

"Teal'c, I need you to pretend your unconscious laying at my feet. And don't move for any reason." He looked at the former first prime. "Understand?"

Teal'c merely bowed his head. He then wordlessly walked over towards Xander and lay with his back to the ground, feigning unconsciousness.

Xander was in complete awe at the degree of which his teammates were willing to put their trust in him. He just prayed that he didn't let them down. Any further musings were cut off as the guard began to stir.

Xander glared down at the Jaffa before speaking in a harsh tone. "Jaffa Kree."

The guard was in complete agony as it began to regain consciousness. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, but he knew that he had failed his lord, and that most likely meant his death, should this lord even acknowledge such a lowly being existed. That was when he heard the voice of his new lord bark out to him.

All signs of fatigue and pain vanished as he quickly assumed his most humble position, praying that this wasn't his last moments as a living, breathing Jaffa.

"You disappoint me, Jaffa." The Jaffa began to look green. "I would expect much better from one who is to be my First Prime." The Jaffa looked up with an almost hopeful expression. Not only was there a possibility of him not dying, but he may be one to hold such an esteemed position, it was almost too much.

Then he noticed the unconscious Shol'va lying at his master's feet. And then there were the other Tauri prisoners that had been herded into the corner. Suddenly, he was unsure if his life wasn't still forfeit.

Xander stepped over the still form of Teal'c and took a few paces towards the kneeling Jaffa. He did his best to glare at the cowering Jaffa.

"Should you fail me again, you will never know the esteem of such a position. I promise you, all you will know will be pain and death." To the Jaffa's credit, his cowering demeanor vanished and he straightened his posture. There was no way that this particular Jaffa would anger his new lord.

"What is it that you would like me to do, My Lord?"

Xander gave the guard a predatory smile, while inwardly he prayed that he got the rest of this right. He definitely should have paid more attention while Carter and Dr. Jackson were informing him on the latest information regarding the Goa'uld. If he didn't use the proper names here, this could all end very badly.

"Rise." The Jaffa got up from it kneeling position and bowed graciously towards Xander. "I am to take these prisoners to Lord Anubis. Prepare a Ha'tak immediately."

The Jaffa bowed once again before making his way out the door. But before he could reach the entrance, Xander spoke up again.

"Make sure that NO ONE enters this room until you return."

The Jaffa brought his armored hand across his chest, causing a metallic clank as he bowed once again. "As you wish, My Lord."

Once the guard was gone, Xander turned back to the rest of SG-1. Teal'c still remained motionless on the ground. So Xander walked over to him and knelt by his side. In a soft voice, he asked.

'T, do you think you can fly a Ha'tak."

Taking his role seriously, Teal'c didn't even open his eyes; he merely nodded his head slightly. Xander patted his shoulder slightly before standing. He turned towards Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Dr. Jackson. O'Neill was grinning like mad.

"I don't care who asks for it…we ARE going to keep this one."

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The Jaffa returned in short order.

"A Ha'tak has already been prepared, My Lord. It was to contain some cargo for Lord Anubis that Lord Ba'al was to transport. Is this the ship you wish to take, My Lord?"

Xander mainly merely nodded his assent. He could feel Jack, and perhaps even Sam, becoming a bit giddy at getting their very own ship, and perhaps some new perspective technology, respectively. The Jaffa spoke once again.

"Shall I prepare a compliment of Jaffa to man the ship, My Lord?"

Xander glared at the guard for a moment. "That will not be necessary. I am sure my First Prime is more than capable of handling the controls to such a ship."

The Jaffa seemed to beam with pride at the words issued by his lord. "Very well, My Lord."

Xander motioned towards Jack and Daniel to gather Teal'c. Soon they were being escorted through the base, and lead to a ring transport that would bring them to the Ha'tak.

Soon they were all alone on the ship. The Jaffa turned to his new master and inquired, "Shall we put them into the holding cells, My Lord?"

Xander gave the guard an incessant glare. "I am a God. Do you truly believe that these pathetic mortals give me any reason to worry?" Inwardly, Xander was almost howling with laughter. He was just glad that he hadn't slipped up a few times and used the expression 'blood bag.'

The Jaffa paled slightly. He had no wish to anger his new God. Though, he had no name by which to call his new lord. He knew he would be blessed with such knowledge when his deity decided he was worthy. The Jaffa guard quickly shook his head.

"No, My Lord, of course not. Please, forgive me."

Xander stared at him for a moment. "Just take the ship into orbit, and do NOT question me again."

As the guard scurried towards the command console, Xander discretely gave the Zat gun to Jack. Then sat in the throne seat just behind the Jaffa.

Once they were in orbit, and about to enter hyper drive, Jack shot the Jaffa with the Zat. Once the guard was dealt with, he quickly ordered Teal'c to the controls, while Xander and Sam carried the guard down to a holding cell. They were done in short order and made their way back to the bridge.

When they got back to the bridge Teal'c had taken over the controls, Daniel was engrossed while reading something on the screens in front of him. Jack, on the other hand was smiling serenely from where he was sitting on the throne seat.

Jack looked over at Xander and smiled. "Nice."

Xander smiled back at his CO. "Any idea on how long it will take to get home." It was Teal'c who responded.

"Almost One and a Half days, Xander Harris." Xander sighed but nodded.

Jack smiled at them. "Oh you aren't going to believe this. We have a full compliment of Al'kesh fighters, a few Tel'tak ships, and an entire squadron of Death Gliders! And, with the exception of the Death Gliders, they all have the capability of cloaking themselves, completely invisible." Jack was almost bouncing on his seat.

Xander and Sam both gave a quick chuckle at the youthful exuberance being displayed by their CO. Then Sam decided to speak up.

"Sir, do we know what cargo is on this ship that Anubis is awaiting?"

Daniel looked up. "Ah, I found a file. I think it's a ship, but most of the information is scrambled and I can't make heads or tales out of it."

Sam looked interested. "It's encrypted? May I take a look?" Daniel looked up at her and gestured her towards the current screen he had open. Suddenly both she and Daniel became engrossed in what they were looking at.

Both Xander and Colonel O'Neill shared a glance. Both were having the same thought. 'Oh Crap.' Jack was about to bring up, as delicately as possible, what had happened earlier. However, he never got the chance as a loud beeping noise began to permeate the bridge.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud! Teal'c, is Ba'al already on out butts? I was hoping to have at least a few minutes."

Teal'c looked up from his command console. He merely lifted an eyebrow before speaking. "No, O'Neill. It is a distress call that we are receiving."

Jack gave him a confused expression. "A distress call? Can we really receive those while in hyper drive?"

"Indeed we can, O'Neill."

Inwardly, Jack sighed. What should he do? It would be really easy to avoid, and ignore, such a call. Hell, with the probability that they were going to have an entire fleet on their asses; it was probably the correct decision to make. However, from the looks he was receiving from Carter, Daniel, and even Xander, he knew which decision he was going to make.

"OK, fine. We'll check it out. But, if its going to take any serious resources, or too much time…we'll see what we can do, but we are out of there. I shouldn't need to remind you of just what, and who, is coming after us."

Once that decision was reached, they fell out of hyper drive. They arrived on a scene that left little to the imagination. Two ships were firing any weapon they had at each other. Jack looked over to Teal'c. There was nothing that they could do. Well, nothing they could do in the amount of time they had available. Fate, however, had something else entirely on its mind.

As soon as they arrived they were noticed by the other shipsthe other ships noticed them. The firing between the two other ships stopped for a brief moment.. It resumed a moment later, however, now the weapons fire from both ships, were being aimed at their Ha'tak. Before they could even react Teal'c began to speak up while firing off some shots of his own.

His voice was barely audible over the mini explosions happening throughout the entire bridge. "O'Neill, their weapons are causing too much damage to our ship, in too short of a time. Our engines are down. Our shields will only last another few moments before we are completely defenseless." He paused for a moment before looking back directly towards Colonel O'Neill. "We no longer have weapons. I recommend we take a ship and retreat."

Before anyone could react to Teal'c and his declaration, the view screen flickered to life. A hauntingly familiar face appeared to the original four members that comprised SG-1.

The face of Molum, the representative of the Aschen Confederation, appeared on the screen and appeared to pay them no attention as he emotionlessly spoke of them invading Aschen Confederate space. He went on to inform them that they would soon be boarded by an Aschen representative, when he finally looked upon the victims he was attacking.

In an unbelievable precedent, Molum's face contorted into a visage of complete and utter rage. His voice was full of both hate and rage as he spoke. "YOU!" He took a few deep breaths, each seeming to increase his anger. Veins could be seen pulsing along his temples. "Prepare to DIE!" With that the view screen went black.

Jack looked at the blank screen in a bit of shock. "Huh. Well, he showed some emotion. I guess there's a first time for everything." It was at that point that he realized he was about to loose his brand new, beautiful, and fully loaded mother ship. It was quite understandable as his shock quickly formed into anger.

Colonel O'Neill was fuming as he glanced over towards Carter. "Where is the closest ship to the bridge?"

Looking at the schematics, she quickly replied, "That would be the ship Anubis is awaiting."

Jack flung his hands up in mock surrender before picking up the Zat and placing it in its holder on his fatigues.

"Fine! Let's go campers, we're leaving." He looked over at Carter. "But I swear that the next one we ARE keeping."

Major Carter sighed. "Yes Sir. The next one we'll keep, Sir." He gave her a small glare, but any comment he could have made was cut off by Xander.

"Sir, what about the Jaffa that I brought aboard."

Teal'c spoke up before The Colonel could. "There is not enough time to get him and make it to the ship. I am sorry Xander Harris."

Xander slumped slightly. Jack placed his hand on Xander's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze while guiding him along with the rest of SG-1.

"It's OK, Xander. You couldn't have known. And if itsit's between any member of this team, and him…I'm sorry, but it's going to be him every time."

That didn't seemed to placate Xander entirely, but he resumed his previous pace, intent on getting off this apparent death trap.

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They quickly made their way into one of the large hanger bays. To their surprise the massive room was almost empty; save for a small round tube that they assumed was a ship. They circled the tubular ship a few times. The only entrance they could find was at the rear of the ship, but no one had a clue on how to open it.

Jack looked at Sam. "You think we need a key or something?"

Sam just shook her head while Xander approached the ship and placed his hand on what they assumed was a door.

"Open Sesame!" To everyone's astonishment, the door actually hissed open. Xander looked back to see the shock on everyone's face. He smiled at them and motioned to the open door. The Colonel made his way up to him and gave him an incredulous look.

"Open Sesame!"

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "It sounded good."

"Open Sesame!"

Xander gave him his own indignant look. "It worked, didn't it!"

"Open Sesame!"

Xander just huffed at him and made his way through the, now open, door. Every step forward he took more lights came on to illuminate the section he was in. The back of the ship had two padded benches running along parallel to the walls. There were compartments above the benches, and some control panels as well. He could tell that Carter would be drooling soon. Should they make it out of this alive.

As he made his way through the open partition that separated the back of the ship from the cockpit, he had to whistle in appreciation. There were four padded seats. The two pilot seats, up front, were surrounded by controls galore. What separated the two front seats was something that looked akin to a DHD, though it was one that looked nothing like any of the pictures he had seen, or the one he had seen briefly on the first planet he had ever visited. As soon as he sat in one of the pilot chairs all of the controls came online. A holographic display came online that overlapped with the windshield. Once Daniel made his way to the front of the ship, and actually saw the display, he actually hissed in shock.

Colonel O'Neill, who had taken the second pilot seat, looked back at his friend. "Daniel, what's wrong?"

Daniel pointed at the screen. Something that appeared to be a ship's diagnostics was being scrolled through. "Jack, that language is of The Ancients."

"WHAT?" All eyed eyes went to Carter, who smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but are you saying that we are actually sitting in a ship built by The Ancients?"

"NO!" All eyes now went to Jack. "We get out of here first, then we can start with the 20,000 questions."

Daniel looked at him. "Isn't that supposed to be 20 questions?"

Jack glared at his friend. "I stand by what I said." He looked over at Xander. "Why don't we see about getting the door in the back closed." Before he even finished the entire thought, the door had hissed shut. He sent Xander a small smile. "Good job." Xander just shrugged, he wasn't sure that he was doing any of this. But now wasn't the time.

Xander glanced at Jack. "What do we do now?"

Jack looked back at him. "Well, why don't we see if you can fly this thing?"

Xander looked a little uncertain, but asked, "Umm…How exactly?"

Daniel spoke up. "Well…So far everything seems to react to you simply thinking it. So, why not trying to will the ship into flight?"

Xander looked completely speculative, but complied none the less. He gently placed his hands onto the controls in front of him. They flared for a moment, and the hum of the ship could be heard.

Xander gently took his hands away from the console, so as not to anger the ship. When the ship's hum didn't die down, he breathed a sigh of relief. He concentrated on making the ship hover, while in the back of his mind he desperately tried to keep his emotions in check, and just freak out about this later.

As the ship began to hover above the floor of the hanger bay, explosions could be heard tearing the ship apart. Jack just shook his head while mumbling about never stopping until they were home ever again.

Xander looked over towards Jack and quietly asked, "What now?"

Jack glanced back towards Carter while pointing to the large, closed doors ahead of them.

"Ah, is there any way that we can open those?" Sam simply shook her head.

Xander just sighed. 'Can't this thing just have a missile or something? As soon as he thought that, compartments on the outer hull of both sides of the ship could be heard opening. And before anyone could question what could was happening, a golden form, shaped like a squibsquid, suddenly lit up from inside the compartment.

It rocketed out of its compartment and fully impacted with the doors. Not only did the doors fully explode outward, it felt as though the entire ship was going to be blown apart by the small missile.

Jack shot another incredulous look towards Xander.

Xander saw the look and shrugged his shoulder again. "Hey, don't look at me!"

O'Neill just shook his head. "Never mind that now. Just get us out of here."

As the explosions began to form all around the ship, that was a decision that Xander could fully get behind. Without feeling a thing, the ship rocketed out of the hanger bay as it was being engulfed in its own explosions.

As they were heading away from the ship, they could see the enemy ships still firing at the Ha'tak vessel. Xander was inwardly wishing that they were invisible, and even though no one on the inside of the ship was aware, the ship they were traveling in suddenly cloaked itself.

Jack just looked at Xander. "Just get us out of here, as fast as you can." Xander just shook his head, and soon they were off at even greater speeds.

xxxxxxxxxx

It was about 15 minutes later when Xander spoke. "I don't think this thing goes into hyper space. Unless it's just not reacting to my asking it to." He glanced over to the other members of SG-1. Sam and Daniel had taken the two rear seats in the cockpit, with Teal'c standing between them.

Xander sighed. "You know, we could really use some sort of manual for this thing." Once he said that a noise could be heard to his left where a console opened up. A bulky form that looked like a PDA on steroids was sitting there. He gently picked it up. The moment he did so, it began to scroll through different options, ending on what looked to be schematics.

Sam, who had been looking over his shoulder, exclaimed, "Holly Hannah!" Xander looked at her in shock as she took the object from his hands. She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly once again. "It's actually a manual for this ship."

Xander looked at her in shock once again, before looking intently at the console that was closed once again. "You know, I could really go for a Twinkie right about now." Both he and Jack stared expectantly at the console. But the damn thing refused to do anything. They looked at each other and shrugged. "It was worth a shot." Jack merely nodded his assent before turning towards Carter.

"Can you read that thing?"

Carter shrugged. "Some of the schematics I can, somewhat, comprehend. Though it would be much easier if it would scroll to the information I wanted like it does for Xander." Xander just gave her a lopsided smile before turning his attention back to the controls, and the still non-compliant console. He really wanted a Twinkie.

"It seems as though I can manually scroll through the information as well, though it will take quite a while to get any useful information."

Jack nodded. "That's fine, Carter. Keep at it." She nodded and went back to work.

Xander looked at the center console and then over towards Jack.

"Umm, Colonel?" Colonel O'Neill looked over at him. "Have you noticed the design, and shape, of the ship.ship? Not to mention that our center console looks like an advanced DHD?"

Jack sighed. "Yea, I did notice that." He looked over towards Xander. "You think this ship can actually fly through a Stargate? It looks like it would be a tight fit."

Xander just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Sir. Hell, I don't even know where we could find a planet close enough to fly to that has a Stargate."

A new holographic display emerged on the frontal view port. A representation of a planet appeared. And a small blue dot appeared on the planet. There was a red path that flowed diagonally across the screen and ended on a red flashing dot. As the dot moved forward on the hologram, the red path began to change to blue at the dot swept past that point.

Jack sighed again. "Looks like we're heading to that planet." He looked over at the kid. "I just hope you can fly us through a Stargate in this thing. Because I really don't want to leave it behind."

Xander just shook his head as Major Carter peered over his shoulder. Staring at the new display with immense concentration. After about a minute and a half she spoke up.

"Sir, at our current rate of travel, I would estimate that we will reach our destination somewhere between 6between 6 to 8 hours."

Jack leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Good, wake me up when we get there." He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at his other teammates. "Uh, Guys? Does this place have a bathroom?"

They all looked at each other before glancing towards the back of the ship. They looked back at Colonel O'Neill with solemn expressions. It was Sam who spoke up.

"I don't think so Sir."

Jack sighed once again and leaned back in his chair. "Fine, just wake me up when we get there."

There was silence in the ship for all of 3 minutes before Jack spoke up again.

"Are we there yet?"

The rest of SG-1 looked at each other in complete trepidation. Each member thinking the same thing.

'Oh Crap!'


	17. Ch 17

There had been blissful silence throughout the ship for the past 15 minutes. Xander had been able to withstand Jack's infamous torture of 'Are we there yet?' for almost 45 minutes. If there was any proof needed that he and the other members of SG-1 had the patience of saints; that would be it. The others were also somewhat amused, not to mention awed, that he was actually able to get the Colonel to stop, and remain quiet for an entire 15 minutes.

Of course there is the fact that when Xander had threatened to 'Turn this ship around,' the ship actually began to change vectors while a new course was plotted. That particular course would have brought them back to where they had started.

After that, there had been a silent agreement not to distract Xander from flying them to the nearest Stargate. Jack had decided to silently relax in his co-pilot chair. Teal'c had already opted to sit in the back of the ship after O'Neill's fourth 'Are we there yet?' and had remained back there as silent as ever.

Daniel, on the other hand, was peering closely over Major Carter's shoulder at the display on the Ancient device she was studying. Xander sat in his pilot's seat, with a sense of foreboding doom, simply anticipating the moment that Major Carter would snap.

He shot a quick glance at the Colonel, who looked very comfortable in his chair. Xander had thought he would see Jack preparing for a wince at what he knew would be coming. And there was no doubt about it. The Colonel knew what was about to happen. He just seemed to have accepted the inevitable, and had decided to wait it out instead of ordering Daniel to his seat. It quickly became apparent that he had dealt with similar situations in the past.

xxxxxxxxxx

Jack stole a glance at Xander and gave an internal sigh. Even though Xander didn't know it, Jack was trying to use anything possible to keep the kid's mind off of the current situation. Hell, he certainly didn't want the kid to think about, what could be, his permanent situation. He didn't think that having the kid freak out in the middle of space, while in control of an Alien craft, would be in anyone's best interest.

"Daniel!"

Ah, there it was. Xander was shaking his head, sighing at the fact they only had one of those 'Ancient Gameboys.'

Daniel was trying to say his piece when all of the occupants in the front of the craft heard a mechanical noise coming just to Xander's left.

Xander looked at the console that had given him the original device Carter was using. He shook his head. "No Way." The compartment slid open and inside was an identical unit to what Sam was using. "I want my god damned Twinkie!"

Jack gave a quick chuckle as Xander tossed Daniel the new device. "I don't think that's going to happen, kid."

Xander gave him an indignant look.

"There really is no justice in the world."

Both Sam and Jack gave a quick chuckle, unlike Daniel who was now engrossed in his new toy.

Dr. Jackson's eyes lit up in pure delight. He handled the device as though it were the Holy Grail. He was having a slight problem using the mechanical device, as it would not automatically scroll for him as it did for Xander. Who knew what information, what secrets, were being held in this little device? He peered closely at the small display screen. The writing was definitely of The Ancients. He wasn't quite sure of the exact dialect. 'Damn, I wish I had my notes, it's a shame the Goa'uld stole them with the rest of my belongings.' The groan of disappointment Daniel gave was quite a bit louder than he had intended. He looked up to see the other occupants in the front of the ship staring at him.

Daniel had the good grace to look up with a sheepish smile. "Sorry guys."

Jack was waiting for Daniel to inform them of the newest apocalyptic event, but when no response was forthcoming, he simply rolled his eyes and asked, "What is it?"

Daniel shook his head. "It's just a shame. I lost all of my reference material I had on Ancient languages. The pictures we had taken, even the video, were all in my backpack." When he mentioned the video, even Sam's head shot up from where she had refocused on her display. She and Jack made eye contact for a short moment that was disturbed when Xander began to laugh lightly as he got out of his seat. Both she and Jack shared a worried glance.

Xander smiled at the other members of SG-1, including Teal'c, as he had just arrived from the back of the ship. Xander took off Daniel's backpack that he had been wearing since he found it just prior to this rescue. He handed the backpack to Daniel and sat back down.

"Sorry Dr Jackson. I found that right before I met up with you guys." He shrugged apologetically. "With everything that we've gone through, I had completely forgotten that I had put it on."

He may as well have been speaking to himself, as Daniel was far too busy looking through the bag, all the while he was mumbling to himself. "Oh, thank god. Everything is here. I can't believe he had it on him." Without even a thought, he looked up at Xander with a confused expression.

"Hey! When did you get your clothes back?"

Xander gave him a look that was a cross between complete and utter confusion, and one that screamed 'are you nuts?' Jack, on the other hand, just groaned into his palms before turning around and shooting Daniel with a death glare. He so did not want to have to go through any of this right now. But, that didn't seem likely as Xander spoke up.

"What are you talking about?"

Jack groaned inwardly as he thought about the possible ways to handle this. His first thought was to lie to the kid, albeit temporarily. Then tell him the truth once they were on safer ground. He definitely didn't want to start playing 20 questions when he really didn't have any answers to give. But given his current situation, and the person they were dealing with, he figured that lying would just cause more problems, and be more trouble than it was worth. It was at this thought that he noticed the fact that no one was answering Xander's question. He then noticed that the ship was beginning to decelerate as Xander began to look frantically between the other 4 members of SG-1.

xxxxxxxxxx

At first Xander had thought it could have been an inappropriately timed joke. That little delusion was quickly washed away when no one answered his question, and beyond that, they all had serious expressions. Well, Teal'c had the stoic expression he always seemed to wear.

When he took in all of the crazy things that had happened from the moment he regained consciousness, from the dagger wound healing, being able to affect, or control, the ribbon device even if he wasn't wearing it, to actually controlling this ship, it was quite understandable that the beginnings of a panic attack arose. Xander brought his gaze to the floor of the ship and tried to stave off any hyperventilating he suddenly felt was needed.

He had to think logically. Sure he had seen, even been part of, weird events as they took place. Enough had happened to him that this shouldn't be anything special, right? Well to him, this was different. There was too much he didn't know. Too many things were happening that should not be happening. And to make matters worse, there was no Scooby gang; no Giles there to rub his glasses while saying something like 'Oh Dear' or 'Dear Lord.' Granted, G-Man was in England at the moment, but that wasn't what was important. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. It was then that he realized what it was that was important. The important thing was that NO ONE WAS ANSWERING HIM!

Whatever calmness he had been able to attain had fled his system. He was about to snap at them when Jack spoke up, bringing Xander back down to a slightly calmer level.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Xander looked at the man. Just by looking at him you could feel the emotion emanating from the man. There was a mixture of curiosity that seemed to be infused with genuine concern. But what Xander was truly grateful for was that there was also a serene calmness coming from the Colonel. It seemed to radiate the fact that no matter what the situation was, he was still the one in control. That was something that Xander greatly needed at the moment.

xxxxxxxxxx

The ship had basically come to a standstill as Xander looked down and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and regained eye contact with the Colonel.

"I assume you mean before waking up while being carried by some Jaffa guards?" Seeing Jack nod, he continued. "We were in that cave. Or whatever it really was. The room was dimly lit from the outside. I was being careful, trying to keep away from the walls." He looked directly into the Colonel's eyes. "While I was looking around, a brief and dull light came from somewhere."

Carter gave a polite, feminine cough. Suddenly all attention was on her.

"It came from the circle in the floor you stepped over." She sighed. "I saw it as it was fading. Once it was gone there was a bright flash of light." She looked over towards Colonel O'Neill. "Almost like an Asgard transport beam." She looked back at Xander. "When that light faded you were somehow suspended in the air." She paused briefly. "And you were naked."

Xander's eyes became wide. "Naked?" He looked too each member of SG-1, who were all nodding their heads in agreement. Xander just shook his head and began to blush. He took a few calming breaths, not wanting to fly off the handle and kill everyone because something suddenly went wrong with the ship. He looked out of the front view port and began to get the ship underway once again.

He turned back to his team members. "So, what exactly happened to me while I was suspended in the air?" He shook his head. "Naked."

Jack spoke up before anyone else could. He knew that this conversation could get out of hand really quickly if they were not careful. He knew it was up to him to take control of the situation. "Listen, Xander. Right now we really aren't sure what happened. And given our current situation I really don't want to start to speculate on what 'might' have happened." He sighed and turned his attention back to Sam. "With that being said, Carter, why don't you take over?" They shared another glance and she nodded her head. She had to tell only what she knew, and begin to theorize once they got home. There would be more than enough time to theorize on what exactly happened once they were back on Earth. She sighed to herself, she could do this.

"Well, the machine seemed to have the capability to heal you, as you can tell since you no longer have the wound you received when you were shot by the staff weapon."

At this, Daniel's eyes went a little wider. "Uh, yea…about that…Thanks for saving my life."

Xander just nodded his head with a small smile. That was something that was just part of everyday life. Well, for him it was. He looked back to Carter, waiting for her to continue.

When his eyes fell back to hers, she nodded. "The machine seemed to scan you several times. To what extent, I can't be sure." She looked over to the Colonel. "And like he said, we shouldn't be speculating and giving various scenarios given our current circumstances."

Xander didn't agree. He wanted to know, and he wanted to know right now. But before he could work himself up, he sighed in defeat. It may have not even been a conscious thought, but he would always place the importance of others beyond his wants and desires. He sighed looking down at his hand that was still adorned by the ribbon device.

'Should I tell them what happened after I regained consciousness? Is it wise to tell them about the Jaffa guards I knocked unconscious; or the one that I killed? Do I even mention the wound the dagger made, and that there is no longer any indication that it had been impaled through the front of the same shoulder that had been shot earlier?' He was brought out of his musings by Jack's voice.

"Xander, I promise you we will get to the bottom of this." Jack gave him a familiar lopsided smile. "Sadly, we've been through similar situations, perhaps not the same, but still similar. And we got out of those all right. We'll get through this, and we'll probably have a similar experience again. And again, we'll get past that as well. We're a team, and we take care of our own."

Xander looked down at the device in his hand once again as he contemplated his current situation. He knew that Jack was telling the truth. At least as far as he knew, and perhaps being able to trust these people was a bit of wishful thinking, but he had read some of the mission debriefings. They really had been through similar situations in the past. That was when it hit him. They may not be the Scooby Gang, but they were a team. More than that, they were his team. It had been stated in some of the reports, and especially through word of mouth. SG-1, even most of the SGC, would defy orders if it meant protecting one of their own. At one time SG-1 had defied orders, their end result was destroying two Ha'tak vessels that were about to attack and most likely destroy the Earth. When Jack, Sam, and Daniel had been captured by Hathor, almost every member of the SGC had volunteered to go on a rescue mission. General Hammond hadn't even needed to finish his instructions on how to volunteer for this 'mission.' Every man had taken that one step forward before the sentence had left the General's lips. That's what he wanted. That was what he needed. There would always be people up higher on the chain of command that he wouldn't be able to trust. But he knew that each and every person sitting within this Alien ship was someone he could trust. He nodded his head and looked up with determined eyes.

"When I woke up I managed to knock down two guards. While I was taking in the situation, including my suddenly healed wound, another guard was able to lunge at me with a dagger. Luckily I was able to keep if from being a fatal wound, but he still got me." He pointed to the front of his previously wounded shoulder.

Major Carter hissed at the uniform where it had been sliced open. She quickly made her way to inspect the wound. She gave him a confused look as she parted the seared material, and found only unblemished skin.

He shook his head. "Yea, I know. The wound began to heal itself the moment I pulled the dagger out of my shoulder. It was completely healed before I even left the room." He looked between the other members of SG-1, and then he glanced down at the ribbon device before sighing. Before they could begin to question him, he continued. "I seem to be able to control this thing, but it's more than that." He glanced up and shifted his gaze between Jack and Sam. "Ba'al tried to use this thing on me. But, somehow, I managed to ward it off." He tore his gaze from Sam who was now staring at him with a slight amount of awe, and looked directly into the red gem of the ribbon device. "When he tried to use it again, it became a battle of willpower." He looked back up at her. "I won."

"What happened?"

He looked over to Jack. "Ba'al went flying through the air and collided with the wall. He hit it hard enough that whatever stone they use on those things actually shattered." Xander gave a small smile at defeating his first System Lord for a short moment before becoming somber. "Ba'al survived his collision, and I just took this and left him there." Xander sighed as he reflected on walking away from the System Lord, even though it was still alive. If it had been a vamp, he wouldn't have even hesitated in ending its existence. With that realization his shoulders slumped. "I should have killed the bastard."

Jack looked at the kid's downcast expression for a moment. He wasn't completely sure how to proceed. "You've done a lot in your life. Buy, have you ever assassinated anyone before?"

Xander looked up at the man. There was no coldness, or malice to his voice. He was simply being asked a question. Xander looked at the other members of SG-1 for a brief moment before bringing his gaze back to Jack.

"No. I can't say that I have."

"It's not something you should start thinking about. It's not your job, even if it was a System Lord."

"But he wants to destroy our planet. You know that he wants to torture and kill all of you."

Jack nodded his head. "Yes, and if it's kill or be killed, then I say kill the bastard." But Jack began to shake his head. "But an assassination, it's not your job."

"But…"

There was a new fire burning in Jack's eyes. Just what it was for, no one could say. "No! It's not your job. It's mine!" Jack leaned in until their faces were less than a foot apart. "I'm the one who decided to take such an action. And I will be the one to take it. Do you understand me?" He leaned back in his chair, giving himself and Xander some room.

Xander simply stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Well, after I left him there, and took his Ribbon Device, I met up with you guys, and now we're on this ship." He motioned to the ship surrounding them. "Which, I am somehow controlling." He sighed as he looked at his current teammates. "That's just a recap. I'm sure there were freaky things I'll remember later." Xander turned and stared out the front view port at the monotonous scenery the stars were showing. Normally such a sight would be a marvel to him. However, the fact that he was flying through space was lost on him. All he could think of was how this could happen to him.

A firm grip on his shoulder pulled him back into the worried gazes of his teammates.

Jack gave his newest teammate's shoulder a squeeze. "I can promise you that we won't rest until we have a much better understanding of what happened to you. And what is happening to you." Jack motioned his head towards Sam. "Carter won't rest until she has a valid theory on everything that is happening. And Daniel, well Daniel wouldn't get a moment of shuteye even without your involvement in all this. But your situation definitely puts more of a drive in him to figure this out that much quicker."

Xander tore his gaze from Jack to see a grinning and nodding Sam, over to Daniel, who was nodding his head with quite a bit of enthusiasm. Xander smiled and nodded his gratitude to his new teammates before turning back to the front view port.

There were a couple minutes of silence before Daniel broke it.

"So, just how did he wind up with his clothes back on? I mean, when he hit the ground he was naked. But when we were being escorted out of the cave, he was fully clothed."

Xander stared out into the depths of space. His mind was going a mile a minute. He was sure that there was more to tell about this machine, he certainly didn't remember hitting the ground, or being naked. He would have to have another talk with his teammates when he wasn't flying an alien craft through the coldness and darkness of space. Although, when he thought about his now clothed status, he could only come to one conclusion. And he certainly did not like what that implied.


	18. Ch 18

Xander sat in the silence of the ship contemplating the decisions he had just made. He had told the other members of SG-1 the freakiness that had occurred after he had awoken in the clutches of the Jaffa guards. He stared out the front view port, reflecting in the silence granted these past few hours. At first he had thought that perhaps he had made the wrong decision. It wouldn't be the first time he second-guessed a decision he made. But the more he reflected on it, and the more he reflected on the people that comprised his teammates, he began to feel better about the choices he made.

He almost had to snort to himself. It felt as though he was the person that was most wigged out by what had happened. Granted, he had been the person that this had happened too. But Carter and Dr. Jackson seemed to be fascinated, and utterly glued, to the small Ancient devises they were currently trying to operate. Colonel O'Neill seemed to be relaxing in his co-pilot seat, seemingly bored out of his mind. Though, Xander did catch a furtive glance thrown his way every now and again. And, had he been paying closer attention, he would have seen similar glances coming from both Sam and Daniel. Teal'c had opted to return to the back of the ship, and had been characteristically quiet throughout most of the flight.

He had finally arrived to the conclusion that these people would indeed step up to the plate for him, when Colonel O'Neill broke him from his musings with a quick tap to his shoulder. He threw a curious expression towards O'Neill.

"What?"

O'Neill simply grinned at him, while nodding his head forward and slightly to the right. Xander's eyes became increasingly wide. He had been so caught up in his personal thoughts that he hadn't noticed what he was approaching. They were quickly approaching what could only be described as a moon. And there were more than one. The one that they were quickly approaching on their right was large. The surface that was facing them looked to be of a dark red color. But as they began to pass the moon it was easy to see how the color bled into a deep violet color. At one point, it was difficult to describe where the change occurred.

There was another moon off in the distance. While no discernable features could be made at such a distance, it seemed to consist of a plethora of colors, and was only half the mass of the moon they were currently passing by.

Sam could be heard taking a deep breath in appreciation of the scenery outside the view port. Straight ahead of them was the planet, and hopefully their way back to Earth. The way the light hit the atmosphere caused a kaleidoscope of colors to dance in their view. It was a good thing that this ship could seemingly pilot itself, the scene was simply hypnotic.

Once they broke through the atmosphere, and could make out the details of the planet, they were quick to notice the trees, and grass. There were large bodies of water in sight as well. Sam noted that this was a good thing, as it noted the distinct possibility of having an environment suitable for them to breathe in, should the need arise.

Xander muttered something to the likes of, 'Don't ever take anything for granted.' Just seconds later a small word was flashing green in the bottom corner of the screen. Dr Jackson read it, then consulted the notes he had available. After a few moments he smiled up at his teammates.

"It reads, 'Conditions Optimal.'"

Jack looked at him archly.

"Yea, but optimal for what?"

Daniel shook his head. "Jack, so far this craft has been able to cater, or respond, to anything that comes from Xander's mind. Wouldn't it stand to reason that it's responding to his reply to Sam's statement?"

Jack just looked over at Xander. "Do you think you can get this thing to tell us where on the planet the Stargate is?"

Before Xander could even answer a new display was on the screen. There was a symbol that clearly looked like a miniature Stargate with an overhead view of the terrain. Xander shook his head.

"I sure hope there aren't any bad guys near the gate."

The map of the area zoomed outward. A multitude of small yellow dots began to fill certain parts of the map. Almost all of them were well away from the symbol representing the Stargate. There was a bright smile on Jack's face while both Carter and Dr. Jackson let out identical groans simultaneously.

When both Colonel O'Neill and Xander shot them confused, and somewhat apprehensive glances, they glanced at each other before showing the display to their Ancient Devices. Xander looked somewhat shocked to find a smaller representation of the map currently adorning the front view port, yellow dots and all. He seriously hadn't meant to do that.

Jack smiled and grabbed the one Daniel had been using. "Oh Yea!"

Daniel, Sam, and Xander looked at him curiously while he simply compared the two maps together. Jack then stared intently at the main screen and pointed to a small clearing in the middle of a forested area. There were a few life signs off in the distance, not an immediate threat.

"Land there."

Xander looked unsure. "Um, OK. But, do you mind if I ask you why?"

Jack looked at him. "No, I don't mind."

Xander waited for an answer, but none seemed to be forthcoming. He shook his head and sighed. "Why?"

Jack smirked at him. "To do a little recon. And we've been traveling for hours." He looked at each of them. "I really do have to go to the bathroom." That got a laugh, or snicker from the rest of the group.

They quickly made their way to the clearing and Xander was able to make a very smooth landing. Just as they landed Teal'c came to the front of the ship. All eyes came to rest on him as he merely lifted a sculpted eyebrow at his teammates.

"Are we there yet?"

Jack shot him a mild glare, which quickly became a smirk. Both Carter and Dr. Jackson were trying, and failing, to contain their snickers. Xander, on the other hand, had fallen out of his seat from laughing so hard.

Jack mumbled something unintelligible as he walked past the Jaffa. He made his way towards the back as the door slid open. He barely glanced back as he thanked Xander, who was still getting off of the floor.

Colonel O'Neill had taken but a few steps, when he suddenly came to a dead stop. He turned a quick 180 and stood with mouth agape at what he saw. Nothing. Nothing was what he saw. With very slow and deliberate steps, he carefully walked back the way he came with an outstretched hand. After just a couple of short paces he came in contact with the hull of the ship. He slowly felt his way along the back of the ship, and stared wide eye at the picture in front if him,

It was like someone had ripped a door in the fabric of space they were in. On each side of the frame was a picture perfect view of the outside scenery. But inside the door, he could make out everything in the ship, including its passengers who were staring at him strangely.

He motioned for Carter to come to him. She was quick to comply. He took half a step into the ship while directing her outside and a few paces away.

When she was a certain distance away he told her to turn around and to tell him if there was anything wrong with this picture. She turned around and stopped in mid motion. It was weird only seeing half of her CO's body, and somewhat infuriating to see the smirk on his face.

"Let me guess. I'm only half the man I used to be?"

She nodded to him. "We're cloaked, Sir?"

"Apparently." Jack looked inside the ship. "Hey Xander, uncloak the ship."

Xander yelled up to him. "We're cloaked?"

Jack looked at Sam. "Are we still cloaked?" She simply nodded. He looked back at Xander and snapped. "Will you just uncloak the damn thing?"

Before he could even ask, Carter called out. "We're uncloaked sir."

Xander called out. "You didn't have to yell!" There was a few seconds of pause. "Sir."

Jack mumbled an apology. He got cranky when he was tired and had to go to the bathroom. So sue him. He greeted as she returned. He glanced towards the front of the ship.

"Ok, cloak it again."

He could faintly hear Xander say, "Cloak, Uncloak…never a thank you, never a please!" But decided to ignore it. He looked at Carter as he pulled out his Zat.

"I'm going out there. Keep watch here, and don't let me go past you guys." He glanced down at the device that gave him an overview of the terrain, while showing where people were. Without any warning one of the yellow dots became blue.

"Hey what happened?"

Xander came up to them. "My fault, I figured it would be easier to tell you apart from everyone else if you were a different color. The ship just complied."

Jack looked at him for a moment. "Good thinking. I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere without me."

Xander waved at his retreating form. "Have fun, Sir."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack returned about 15 minutes later. He was quick to inform them that the people of this planet seemed to be somewhat primitive as far as their technology went. But they should definitely come back here if they could figure out the address.

As they took off, the outer engines, which had recessed into the ship upon landing, were once again reemerging from the ship. Within a short time the ship had directed itself to the Stargate. Xander had landed the ship just in front of the DHD. All of them stared at the large artifact, hoping that they would be able to communicate with the SGC. Going through the gate without someone opening the iris was something that would not be of the good.

Jack glanced back at Daniel and indicated for him to 'do his thing.' Dr. Jackson approached the DHD built into the ship and glanced down at his own notebook. After a few tentative moments, he dialed the Earth's gate, which quickly connected.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

SGC

"Incoming Wormhole."

As those words were spoken, Klaxons began to blare while troops filled the room armed to the teeth. A few moments after the warning had been given; General Hammond entered the control room.

"We have not received any IDC, Sir."

General Hammond nodded, "Have we had any word from SG-1, or the Tok'ra?"

"No, Sir. After the MALP showed us the heavy encampment of Jaffa near the gate, we haven't heard any word from either."

General Hammond had just sighed, and was about to speak up, when the Sergeant spoke up instead.

"Sir, we have a radio transmission incoming." He hit a few buttons and Jack's voice could be heard over the intercom.

"Oh, come on Xander! This thing has to have something like a radio in it."

Xander's exasperated voice shot back. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

Hammond and the sergeant looked at each other before The General leaned into the microphone.

"Jack?"

There was a brief pause.

"General?"

Hammond sighed in relief. "Colonel, what is going on here? What happened?"

Another brief pause.

"Oh you know. Same old, same old. We go and look at some rocks, or walls. Get captured by a system lord. Escape, then find our way to a Stargate without a GDO." There was a moment of awkward silence. "So, how was your day?"

Hammond shook his head. "Is everyone with you?"

"Yes Sir. Any chance of letting us in?"

Hammond signaled for the guards below to remain on alert. Once the iris was opened he spoke into the microphone once again.

"Doors open, Colonel. Come on home."

There was a brief ripple in the gate, but seemingly nothing came through. Suddenly Jack's voice came over the intercom once again.

"Thanks General. You can close it up now."

Hammond and the sergeant cast each other a confused glance. The General nodded his head and the sergeant placed his hand on the palm reader. A second later the iris closed over the event horizon. A few moments later, the gate shut down.

Hammond was casting a confused glance around the embarkation room. No one seemed to know what was going on. That was until a ship that was hovering in the air became uncloaked. Weapons were quickly aimed upward. But inside the ship, Colonel O'Neill was smiling and waving to his seemingly irate CO.

Jack glanced over to Xander. "So…perhaps coming in hear cloaked wasn't such a good idea." Xander simply shook his head 'No.'

The General's voice could be heard ordering the men below to clear a space for the ship to land.

As they were waiting for the soldiers to arrange themselves to the ship could settle on the ground, Carter leaned forward with a curious expression on her face.

"So, once you got close enough to the gate, the ship actually aligned itself with the gate and proceeded through the gate?"

Xander shook his head. "Seemed to."

Jack smiled. "All right! Autopilot, I love this ship."

Once the ship was finally settled on the ground, the back door slid open. The members of SG-1 made their way out of the ship as General Hammond made his way into the room.

Hammond gave Colonel O'Neill a furtive glance. "I take it this debriefing is going to be an interesting one."

"Well Sir, that would be a long story. But I'd recommend we start it on our way to see Dr. Frazier. And I'd also recommend that you be the only other person present."

General Hammond cast concerned glances at the individual members of his top SG-Team, before gesturing for them to lead the way.

As Colonel O'Neill passed by his CO, he couldn't help but to cast an inward sigh.

'General Hammond is not going to like this.'


	19. Ch 19

The group hadn't taken more than a few paces before Colonel O'Neill placed a hand on Major Carter and his other on General Hammond, stopping their forward progress. Both of them cast him a curious glance as he cleared his throat. Once Xander, Daniel, and Teal'c glanced back in his direction, he began to speak.

'Teal'c, Daniel, why don't you two bring Xander down to see The Doc? There are some things that I want to discuss with General Hammond before we get down there."

Both Teal'c and Daniel nodded their acceptance, but Xander stayed where he was. Xander was just staring at the Colonel for a moment. Internally he was fighting a battle of wills, knowing that he needed to trust these people, as hopefully, they would trust him. As nervous as he was, giving that sort of trust to anyone but the Scooby Gang, he finally nodded his assent, and followed Daniel and Teal'c to see Dr. Frazier.

Jack turned to his CO, trying to figure how to start this pre-debrief. He glanced at Carter, who was also looking at him expectantly. With a sigh he waved his hand in the direction the rest of his team had gone, and the three military personal began to walk in that direction at a very slow pace.

"Sir, as you've no doubt figured out by now, this is going to be a very long debrief." He looked towards General Hammond, who was simply nodding along. "What you need to know now, is that something happened to Xander." Jack stopped walking, as did his two companions. "Sir, we have some theories on what happened, but nothing concrete. We actually have some video footage of what transpired, but nothing we've been able to review." Letting out a sigh he continued. "And while I'd love to go into greater detail right now, I don't think we have the time." When he looked at his CO, Jack got the feeling that not being more forthcoming with information would be unacceptable. "Sir, I think the most important thing we need to focus on now, besides learning what happened to Xander, is keeping what we find under wraps."

"What do you mean, Colonel?"

"Sir, I have no doubts that the NID have moles in here. And if what happened to Xander is what we expect it is, then I don't even want to think what will happen when they try to get their hands on the kid."

General Hammond looked thoughtful; he knew a lot had happened when his team never reported back on schedule. Then, when they had dialed the planet, the MALP only showed video footage of a large number of Jaffa, not to mention no radio contact could be established, The General had been worried. Hell, they had even contacted the Tok'ra, who said they would assist as much as was possible, but Hammond hadn't been holding his breath on their account. And then SG-1 returns home in an alien craft, he could already feel the migraine starting, and from what Colonel O'Neill was saying, it wasn't about to go away any time soon. Though, that did bring up a question.

"Colonel, is that ship in any way part of what we don't want the NID to know about?"

Jack and Sam passed each other a worried glance. General Hammond shook his head, oh yea his migraine was definitely starting to flair up. He just shook his head and resumed their pace towards the medical wing.

"Colonel, why don't you inform me of the most likely scenario that we'll be dealing with, on the topic of what happened to Alexander?"

Jack gave a quick glance and a nod to Carter, who sighed and began to regale The General with what happened.

"Basically sir, we were trapped in some sort of room, probably a lab, built by The Ancients. Xander triggered a device in the room, and to make a long story short, it manipulated his DNA, at least I believe it did." She glanced over at a wide-eyed General Hammond. "It seemed to heal his physical wounds at first, and then it went deeper. Just what it did, and the side effects involved are unknown." She then noticed that they had stopped their forward progress. She quickly turned towards General Hammond. "Sir, this is all speculation. I only hypothesized what was happening based on some holographic projections and what we could see the machine physically doing to his body. I'm not certain that it really did do anything to his DNA, I only hypothesized that based on the display."

General Hammond looked concerned. "If it did harm him in any way, is there anything we can do?"

Carter shook her head. "I don't think so, Sir. Our own medical technology is far too primitive to be able to help him. Perhaps one of our more technologically advanced allies can be of assistance."

Colonel O'Neill spoke up. "Not to mention that the planet this happened on is now under Ba'al's rule. And even if we could get beyond his Jaffa, it appears as though the power for the machine died shortly after it finished doing its thing on Xander, very shortly after."

They resumed their walk, and were standing outside the medical facility a few moments later. Colonel O'Neill placed his hand in front of General Hammond. Hammond glanced over at him.

"Sir, we really do need to keep this from reaching the wrong people. I don't want Xander to become some sort of lab rat."

General Hammond let out a small breath before nodding his head. "Agreed, though I'm afraid we won't be able to keep this part of the mission under wraps for too long. The high tech space craft you brought with you is going to have everyone looking at this mission very closely." He looked between the two members of SG-1 before nodding his head again. "But we take care of our own here. I'll do what I can for as long as I am able to."

Jack removed his arm and gave the General a quick nod of appreciation. The three of them went through the doors to find Dr. Frazier and two nurses working. Daniel and Teal'c were lying on their medical beds; each casting quick glances at Xander. Xander, on the other hand, seemed to be staring at the new occupants of the room, with an extremely worried look on his face.

Jack felt bad for the kid. No matter what the outcome was going to be, after today, the kid's life was never going to be the same again. He gave out a tired sigh as he noticed Xander's worried expression; nothing was ever easy. That was when Dr. Frazier seemed to take notice of his arrival and made her way over to them. 'Oh great, here come the needles.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a few hours, and a couple needles, later. Jack had quickly pulled Xander aside and talked about his discussion with the General. Though he left out their theory on just what happened, the part about keeping everything under wraps was what was important for now.

SG-1 was all gathered in Sam's large laboratory. She had set up some equipment so they could both watch and record what Daniel's video showed them, but before they were to watch it, they had wanted to discuss what they thought had transpired in that room.

Xander had been floored by their theories. 'My freaking DNA has been altered?' He shook his head as his mind attempted to process what he had been told. 'It even made alterations on a level beyond what Carter could figure. That's just perfect.' He couldn't help but feel somewhat bitter. This was his first real day on the job, could anyone else claim to have gone through so much crap?

Xander watched as the video seemed to show the display that Daniel had been looking at, and he could hear the conversation happening in the background. This had been his fourth time watching it. Jack was sitting right beside him, moral support more than anything else. Teal'c was silently standing out of the way as only the large man could do. Daniel had gone to his office, already starting on photographing each frame of the movie. He wanted to try and translate what the inner wall of the laboratory had written on it, not to mention the walls of the ruins, and the words that were displayed on the hologram. Xander had to snort at what Jack had said earlier. Dr. Jackson truly wasn't going to be getting much sleep for a while. Sam was busy typing her thoughts on what happened into her laptop. She really wanted to get everything down, before any of the information became vague, as if that could happen.

They would normally be in a debriefing right now, but Dr. Frazier was having extra tests run on Xander's blood and DNA. And since she was ordered to do it below the NID's radar, it was going slower than usual.

It was a few hours later, and another 10 viewings of the video, that SG-1, along with Dr. Frazier, and General Hammond found themselves in the debriefing room. Dr. Jackson seemed to be preoccupied with his work, as though he was still going through it, and amazingly, Dr. Frazier was acting in the same fashion. So it was no real surprise when she spoke up.

"General Hammond, Sir, I would like permission to postpone this meeting and have a second batch of tests run on Xander, to make sure that my information is accurate. To be perfectly blunt, Sir, this information is just too unbelievable." Xander straightened in his chair as he frantically looked between Dr. Frazier and General Hammond. Janet quickly noticed this and placated the young man. "Not to worry, Xander. It's unbelievable in a good way." He seemed to relax slightly but continued to glance back and forth.

General Hammond looked around the table, Dr. Jackson looked to be in favor of the idea, though he was shooting quick glances at Xander, not wanting to put undue pressure on the young man. Sam looked like she could go either way, while Jack seemed to be trying to calm Xander down.

"Colonel, what do you think?"

Jack looked to his CO, before placing a hand on Xander's shoulder. "You're the one who's most affected by this. Do you think you can take it easy for a night, I'm sure we can reschedule this for tomorrow morning."

Xander seemed unsure. Not knowing what was happening was killing him inside. Though, he would bet good money that everyone in that room did have his best intentions in mind. Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly nodded his assent. It was late, he'd let Dr. Frazier run the new batch of tests, and then he'd try and get some rest. Yea, like actually getting some rest was really going to happen.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Next Morning 0800

Xander was already in the briefing room. He hadn't slept one iota last night. And, as he saw the other members of this debrief, apparently no one else had either. The only one who seemed even vaguely rested was Teal'c. Though, with that particular bald man, one could never tell.

Dr. Frazier looked tired, and worn out. He wouldn't have been surprised if she hadn't left her medical labs all night. And, if he wasn't mistaken, Xander could have sworn that Dr. Jackson was wearing the same clothing as he had been wearing to the previous debriefing. Somehow, the man looked more awake than Jack did. 'Must be all the coffee the man drinks.'

Whether or not Jack had slept much last night wasn't an issue. It appeared that if he wasn't sleeping in his own bed, or waking up to go fishing, Jack was not a morning person. Enough said on that account. Sam looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep, but she seemed to be holding herself up well in spite of that, apparently, not a first for her. And last but not least, General Hammond. Amazingly enough, the man's eyes were the only part of him that displayed any sign of his exhaustion.

Once everyone had taken their seats, the debriefing was started in short order. The appearance of the enemy Jaffa was glossed over, as was finding The Ancient's laboratory. However, once they got to the part of the device's activation, things became a lot more detailed, and, a lot more interesting.


	20. Ch 20

Silence seemed to permeate the room as all eyes focused on the doctor. The doctor looked around the large conference table. All eyes were focused on her, and she was sure that she had everyone's rapt attention. She placed her hands on her files and notes. Looking at each person in turn, she ended on The General.

"It appears as though The Ancient's device made quite a few changes to Alexander's genetic make-up." She glanced over at the young man, who was currently leaning forward in his chair. "From the results of the few tests we have performed, I feel it's important to say that, as of now, there is no evidence that Alexander is in any physical danger." A few people sighed in relief, though Xander hadn't moved from his position. Hell, she could swear the man hadn't even blinked since she began speaking.

"I do believe it's important to point out that this particular finding is not conclusive. Especially without further testing done. There has simply been too many changes to his body for that to be conclusive. Though I do feel, with a good deal of certainty, that further testing will show that he is in no physical danger."

General Hammond cleared his throat. "What changes have your tests shown?"

Dr. Frazier glanced between Xander and The General before placing her hands on top of her files once again. "If I could categorize, or perhaps surmise, what has been done to Alexander, I would say that the machine has evolved his genetic makeup."

Silence ascended throughout the room once again before it was quickly interrupted.

"So, he's still human?" Jack asked as Sam asked her question simultaneously, "So, what is he, homo superior?"

Janet looked at Jack first and said, "As far as I can tell, he is still very much human." She then glanced over at Sam. "I'm not sure what the next stage of evolution is, but from what I can surmise, I would say that he is actually a few stages, perhaps millions of years, more evolved than your average modern day homo sapiens."

Jack's eyes lit up, "Wow!" as Sam asked, "So how would we classify him?"

Surprisingly it was Daniel who spoke up. "Ancient." He noticed that everyone was looking at him. "I think we could classify him as an Ancient."

Before questions and scenarios could begin to form, General Hammond once again spoke up.

"We can speculate, and classify, all we want later." He looked around at the individuals of the room, noting that Xander hadn't said one word, he just seemed to be quietly soaking in all of the information. 'I can't believe he's keeping it together this well.' General Hammond had to admit that the young man was vastly impressing him. But, be that as it may, he pressed on.

"What I want to know now, is what specifically it is that has been done to him." He held up his hand as Dr. Frazier began, what looked like, a protest. "I understand you need to run more tests to come to any firm conclusions, but with the tests you have run, please let us know what you believe to have transpired."

Janet bit her bottom lip before complying. "Well, I believe the first thing we should look at is this." She got up and placed a disk into a computer terminal. After a moment a projection was displayed on a large white screen. "What we are looking at are T-cells, or better yet, helper T-cells." She looked back at her audience who were glancing back between her and the monitor. "The grouping on the left is from me, it looks similar to anyone in my age bracket with my health, which I am proud to say is quite good." She clicked a button on a remote as she walked towards the screen. "This grouping on the right belongs to Mr. Harris." She didn't notice the slight wince at the name, but he too was paying rapt attention to the screen. "You'll notice the fact that his sample has an extremely high number of helper T-cells, and they are all closely packed together." She looked back at the table, and while most of the occupants in the room knew that this was important, only Major Carter was staring at the screen with wide eyes and her mouth agape.

Janet sighed, "Look, T-cells are the corner stone to a person's health and physical condition. As you age the T-cells become less compact, and some will actually begin to degrade. This is a normal part of life, and the result of which is aging." The occupants in the room were glancing between the two samples, and she waited until all eyes were on her before continuing. "As we grow older, we have fewer and fewer helper T-cells. As a result our body begins to break down, we are more susceptible to disease, and a host of other ailments." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's the curse of aging." She hit another button on the remote and the sample on the right began to come to life. "What you are looking at now is what was recorded from our tests last night. You'll notice that my T-cells look to be inactive. That is because the process is slow." She smiled at them. "If it moved much faster we wouldn't be living nearly as long." She then turned back to Xander's sample, which was in motion. "At first I was concerned about this rapid activity. However, as you continue watching, you will notice that, while some T-cells do degrade and break off from the grouping, new helper T-cells are formed at a rapid pace. His T-cells remain tight and compact, and the process continually repeats itself." She turned to look at Xander. "Perhaps indefinitely." She placed the remote on the table and retook her seat.

General Hammond spoke up. "What exactly does this mean, Doctor?"

She looked at Xander. "From what Xander told me about this mission, it seems as though his regenerative capabilities are directly tied, or work just as well. While I haven't tested in it in any controlled settings, he seems to be able to heal at an extremely accelerated rate." She looked over at The General. "Though that is just speculation. And while this is also simply speculation, I don't see Xander dying of natural causes." She looked back at the young man who seemed to be having an introspective moment. "Ever."

The room was quiet again as all eyes turned to Xander. He didn't seem to take notice. In fact, it seemed as though his sole concentration was at the table in front of him. Though, every soul in that room knew all of his thoughts were reflected inwards.

Xander felt as though he should be going crazy at the moment, but for reasons he couldn't fathom, he felt a calm that simply shouldn't be there. He reflected on the past. He had been possessed more than once, and hell, he had almost been mutated into a 'fish man.' How was this any different?

Well, the difference here was that the process was complete here. And it wasn't magic that did it to him, it was technology. Could magic fix this? He didn't know how he knew, but he was sure that the answer to that question was a resounding 'No.'

Could he face The Scoobies now? Would they understand what was done to him? Would they even be cleared to know that something had happened, or would Uncle Sam be expecting this stay as classified as the Stargate project? There were so many questions, and so many unknowns. What else had been done to him. And how far would these people, or god forbid other people, go to find out?

He was in trouble and he knew it. If it wasn't from his own body, then it was from those around him. He had a good feeling that he could trust the people at Stargate Command, but they weren't at the top of the food chain. If it came down to it, would the President actually come down on his side. Sure he liked the guy, and was pretty sure the man held him in good regards, but he couldn't say for sure if The President would go to bat for him.

Another part of him wanted to make sure that The Scoobies remained safe and out of this. He only hoped that the few people who were cleared to know about them wouldn't get involved in this. But then again there were more immediate concerns. Such as what was going to happen now, and just what was done to him that they don't know about, and perhaps don't have the technology to learn? 'Oh hey, there's the panic!'

The voice of General Hammond brought him out of his musings.

"What else can you tell us Doctor?"

Xander brought his attention back to her.

"Well, there's quite a bit that can be related to the abundance, and tightly packed, helper T-cells, such as him having a perfect immune system. There's also the fact that while most blood samples need to have preservatives added to them, his blood seems to remain fresh even after taken from him. Whether that is due to the T-cells, I can't say." She gave Xander an apologetic smile as she noticed that he had a slightly odd look on his face when he heard that his blood would remain fresh after it left his body.

Xander shook his head. 'One more reason not to become food for a Vamp.' He glanced at The General, then at his other team members, and could tell that they were all having similar thoughts.

Janet didn't seem to catch this, as she got up from her chair, took the remote once again, and pressed the button that switched the picture. "What we are looking at here is the brain wave activity taken from the EKG last night. And, while I definitely want to do more testing here, and have a specialist take a look, you'll notice quite a few similarities to this EKG," She pressed the button again and a very similar one came on the other side of the screen. "And this EKG, which is the one we took when Colonel O'Neill had the Ancient's repository of knowledge downloaded into his mind."

This time it was Sam who was the first to speak up. "When that happened to Colonel O'Neill, it would have killed him without the Asgard's help. Is Xander's life in danger?"

Dr. Frazier shook her head. "I don't believe so." She pressed the button once more, and a new overhead view of the neural activity in his brain appeared. "When Colonel O'Neill had the knowledge downloaded into his mind, it began to overwhelm, or overload his brain. The images here show the brain activity going through different pathways. While he is using far more, if not all, of his brain, it isn't overwhelming him." She looked between Jack and Xander. "I don't think we have to worry about him shutting down."

Sam's eyes lit up. "Towards the end, the machine was focusing on his head. It must have been altering the pathways in his mind, evolving his actual brain."

Jack smiled at him and slapped him on the shoulder. "See, now you can actually use your brain."

Xander gave him a faint lopsided smile shaking his head. His attention went straight back to the table as Daniel spoke up.

"Ah, guys, I think that I have a fairly decent idea on what the machine did to him" He shrugged. "To a degree. And just as important, I think I know why it did it to him."

All eyes were now trained solely on Dr. Jackson. Just as he was about to begin, the telephone in the middle of the table began to ring. Jack quickly got up and answered it.

"Yes?"

"….."

"I see." He took the phone from his ear and gave it to The General. "It's for you."

Taking the phone, Hammond barked into the receiver.

"Hammond, this better be important."

"……." It didn't help matters when Hammond frowned into the phone.

"I see, send him in."

Hammond abruptly hung up the phone while looking at the occupants of the room. With a worried glance he ended on both Jack and Xander.

"That was the front gate." He shook his head. "Apparently an agent of the NID has arrived." He glanced at the worried members of SG-1, and a worried looking Dr. Frazier. "I'm not sure how they did it, and in such little time, but they apparently have some legal documents placing Mr. Harris into their custody."

For once Xander didn't care about being called Mr. Harris. This seemed to be his worst nightmare coming true.


	21. Ch 21

Hammond had just left the room, promising to get to the bottom of this. All eyes landed on Xander as he stood up. His eyes seemed completely unfocused, as though he were in a daze. He slowly turned around and walked to the window overlooking the embarkation room.

The other occupants of the room began glancing at one another. No one was quite sure what to do next. Questions of how they found out so quickly jumped from one person to another.

The fact that they had made quite a spectacular entrance was noted. Janet was sure that they couldn't have learned anything from the tests she had run on Xander. When Sam asked if she had been equally secretive with the tests run on the rest of the team, her silence spoke volumes.

So, they had an idea as to how the NID knew to go after Xander. That was both an advantage, and quite the disadvantage. The main disadvantage being the fact that so little time had passed, it would be almost impossible to put a plan into action to stop the NID from carrying out whatever plan they already had underway.

One advantage, if you could call it that, was that Dr. Frasier was sure that they had no clue about the information that was garnered from the tests she ran. That did, however, bring up the question as to why they were acting so quickly on whatever shred of evidence they had been able to find.

Xander's voice broke them out of their musings, and perhaps answered their question at the same time.

"The ship."

It was a simple statement. Major Carter stood from her place and walked over to where Xander was staring down at the scene. There were many scientists and engineers buzzing around the ship. A few pieces of equipment were placed around the ship. It looked as though they would be moving it soon by hoisting it through the shaft that delivered the gate into the room.

"What about the ship?"

Xander glanced at Sam. He nodded his head back to the scene below them.

"It's still there."

Sam shook her head. "Yeah, they're planning on moving it to another location in a few hours."

Xander looked at her with a small smile on his face.

"Sam, that ship hasn't moved since I set it down yesterday."

Major Carter's eyes widened. "I had heard that they couldn't get the controls to activate. I-"

Xander chuckled as he cut her off.

"Between a lack of sleep, and being preoccupied trying to help me," He gave them all a smile. "And thanks for that, by the way, I think we can forgive this small oversight."

"Why are you so calm about this?" Jack's voice was a mixture between curiosity and downright confusion.

Xander just shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of this." A grin that was pure Xander appeared on his face. "Besides, with all of the resident geniuses in here, and our extensive knowledge of television and movie gimmicks, I'm sure we can come up with something."

All eyes went to Major Carter and Dr. Jackson, both staring at the other and shrugging. Suddenly, Colonel O'Neill stood up with a smile on his face.

"Come on Doc." He said while staring at Janet. "I think I have an idea to at least buy our boy some time.

Jack stood up, practically dragging the doctor with him. Xander looked at the door, trying to show a front that was far more optimistic than he truly felt.

With a light voice, he spoke, "Oh, boy. I'm doomed."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Jack made his way down the corridor. Dr. Frasier was only a few paces behind him with the rest of SG-1 trailing a short distance further back. By the elevators stood a flustered General Hammond, who was leafing through some legal documents. A smug, yet still composed, agent for the NID was flanked by two armed personnel.

As the agent's eyes trailed the corridor, they landed on Jack for just a moment before roaming onto the next person, finally ending on Xander. After pointing at the young man, and barking an order to detain him, it became apparent that the armed personnel, SGC personnel, were under orders to follow the agent's demands.

As the guards moved to flank Xander, all the while sending him semi-apologetic glances, Hammond's voice barked out, reverberating off of the cement walls of the cramped corridor.

"This is ludicrous. These documents have no foundation to stand on." Forcing himself to cease on grinding his teeth, he continued. "There is no way this will hold up."

The NID agent looked over to the enraged general with a smug expression.

"I'm no lawyer, nor do I care to be one. However, that document has been signed by both a judge and a senator, and as such it holds now."

Agent Forn glanced towards the man he was here to take into custody. Xander was standing in between the two guards, not putting up a fight, yet not showing any sign that he was about to comply with any demands. He stalked towards his prey; the intimidation he was trying to put forth seemed to have no affect on the young man. The lack of any sign of intimidation only served to enrage the NID agent. Taking his eyes off of his temporary charge, he shot a glare at each of the stoic guards.

"Alexander Harris is now under my custody. You will escort him to the armored caravan on the main level." The agent barked out these orders to the two guards, before glancing at Xander and shooting him a glare. "If he resists you are authorized to shoot him." He smirked, "But injure only; he's far too valuable to kill."

Before the agent, or the guards, could take a step, Jack's deceptively calm voice was heard addressing General Hammond.

"General, Sir. There may be a slight problem." All eyed turned to him. He glanced at the NID agent, not wanting to relate any information on Xander, but under the circumstances he really didn't see a choice. "Due to his unique status, Xander's immune system seems to keep him abnormally healthy." He glanced over at the young man, receiving an amused eyebrow raised, urging him to go on.

"How is this a problem, Colonel?"

Jack's eyes snapped back onto The General after the man had asked his question.

"Well sir, the end result of him fighting off a common cold could be him exposing us to a new and mutated form of that same virus." Jack waved his hand enigmatically. "The natural process of him fighting off a cold could cause an epidemic!"

It was almost comical to see the various expressions passing from person to person. The important one, however, was General Hammond's gaze settling upon the doctor.

"Is this true, Doctor? Could the SGC be in danger of an epidemic?"

Janet bit her lower lip for a moment. "Sir, it is a definite possibility."

Before the Agent's enraged protests could be heard, Hammond spoke over him.

"What do you recommend we do in such a case, Doctor?"

"At the moment, Sir; I am issuing a level Four quarantine. No one enters or leaves the SGC. All personnel who are now offsite but were here when Mr. Harris arrived should confine themselves to a solitary location, if they cannot make it here while avoiding the public. If we do find any cases of an eminent epidemic, after testing on site personnel, we will have to deploy hazmat teams to all known sights of SGC personnel, and perhaps even quarantine Colorado Springs, if it hasn't broken that quarantine already."

She glanced around at the various people surrounding her. The SGC personnel were trying to contain their smirks, while the NID agent seemed to be turning a deep shade or red due to his rage. She looked at him concerned.

"Sir, you don't look so good."

"He could be infected!" All eyes turned to Jack who was waving his hands at the agent.

Hammond nodded once to the guards, which was all the notice they needed, to flank the agent, each guard placing a firm hand of restraint on the man.

"Take him down to the infirmary. We'll start running tests right away."

"You Can't Do This!" The highly enraged agent screeched. It took a visible effort for the man to calm down a level of simply seething irritation. "These orders come from up top, and I demand to be given custody of Mr. Harris immediately."

General Hammond simply shook his head. "Under matters of medical importance, Dr. Frasier has complete authority, even over your orders."

The guards escorted the fuming agent down to the infirmary; the doctor followed only a few paces behind. Once they were all out of earshot, all eyes made their way to Jack. The expressions they were sending his way brought forth a snort and a chuckle that he couldn't suppress. Answering their unasked question, he simply shrugged with a smirk on his face.

"I saw it on an episode of Star Trek."

That got multiple snorts of amusement and a few chuckles. Xander couldn't help but to roll his eyes at how his CO managed to pull that out of his butt. He figured that this would be one of those things you laughed over when reflecting upon it on a later date.

"All that did was buy us a little time." All inner musings ceased as his attention was drawn to The General. "I'll be in my office, getting the president on the line."

As General Hammond made his way to his office, Xander couldn't help but notice the slight frown on O'Neill's face. As their eyes met it became apparent that Jack wasn't too optimistic about Hammond being able to actually reach the president. And, from glancing at his other team members, they were all of a like mind on this.

Hearing his name, he looked back at Jack.

"Why don't you go and pack a few things. Not that I don't think Hammond will have any problems with The President, but I would rather be safe than sorry." Xander simply nodded. Turning to Teal'c, Jack continued, "Go down to the infirmary. I want to know the moment that NID Agent is on the move again. Frasier can keep the quarantine going for a while, but I want to keep that agent away from our boy." Teal'c simply inclined his head and made his way down towards the infirmary. Jack looked back at Xander. "Go and pack. I need to talk to Daniel and Carter." Nodding his head, he left them to their conversation.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Xander walked into his room. He glanced around at the small box that had become his living quarters. Soon he would be getting his own apartment. That, however, didn't seem like it was still in the play book.

He ignored his clothes and the Colonel's order to pack. Instead he went to the footlocker at the foot of his bed. Crouching in front of it, he lifted its lid and pulled out a seamless metal cube.

Standing up he walked to the side of his bed and sat on its edge already deep in thought. How much time had passed he had no idea. But, with a final nod and a determined step, he took the metallic cube and made his way to Hammond's office.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Xander made his way to Hammond's office only to find O'Neill pacing in front of the door.

Jack stopped pacing the moment he felt a presence by his side. Glancing just off to his side, he saw Xander making his way to the office door. And, unless he had a lot of stuff packed into that shiny metallic box, Jack could say he was highly confused.

"Well, you certainly pack light."

Xander chuckled as he made his way to the door. Jack looked at both him and his box inquiringly as he rapped on Hammond's door. Receiving an aggravated bark of 'Enter' both men made their way into the office.

The fact that Hammond had just slammed the red phone down with considerable force spoke volumes of his success, or lack thereof.

"Jack, Xander, I'm afraid that I don't have any good news for you. When the NID do something, they don't go half way with it."

Jack shook his head. "That's ok, General. I planned for this."

The sudden frown on Hammond's face didn't speak well of things to come.

"Jack, you are in my direct chain of command. I can't have you-"

Jack pulled out an official document from inside his coat pocket.

"Sir, I am tending in my resignation. Effective Immediately." He turned from the nodding head of his CO, to the wide eyes of Xander. "Come on, Xan. We need to help the science geeks move that ship. I believe the shaft should be opening any moment."

Xander just shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "Can I see that?" He asked while pointing at the resignation.

The paper was handed to him. He couldn't help himself from shaking his head as he ran the short and sweet note from O'Neill. Basically it said "I Quit, have a nice day." It was accompanied by an official stamp, seal, and his signature.

If there was any doubt about putting his trust in these people, it had just flown out of the proverbial window. With another sad smile on his face, he tore up the letter of resignation. This received a 'hey' from O'Neill and an inquiring gaze from Hammond.

"Sir, I have my own way of getting in contact with the president."

Jack glanced at what he thought was a box. It obviously wasn't as there were no seams, or creases to show that it had any openings whatsoever.

Xander placed the box on The General's desk and gave it a quick pat. He smiled as both men paid close attention to it. He whispered a quick trigger word, and the flawless and smooth cube shimmered. When the effect stopped, there was a white hand print on the top of the box.

It was now most definitely a box. Where before it was a smooth cube, there was now a horizontal crease in the center of the box.

Xander placed his hand on the print, causing the white hand print to turn a bright shade of blue. Taking his hand away, the sound of latches opening could be heard. Without another sound the box opened. As the lid finally came to rest, perpendicular to the flat of the desk, the contents of the box was clearly visible to all those in the room.


	22. Ch 22

I apologize for not getting any new parts out for any of my fics in some time. I simply haven't been able to get myself to actually write while I sit in front of my computer. I just hope this little (long) faze is over and it won't be so long until the next update. Again, sorry for the extended delay.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

General Hammond glanced up, briefly catching Xander's eyes. After a quick nod, he hesitantly reached into the, now open, box and retrieved the only object within said box.

From its physical appearance, the object looked mundane, no more than a mere paperweight. George, however, knew better. He had seen this object once before, and only once before. The President of The United States had placed something similar onto the table in his 'war room' when he had visited all those months ago to explain who Xander was, and about what they knew about the 'night life.'

The metallic object, perhaps made out of silver, was only about 6 or 7 inches in length, 3 inches wide, and not even 2 inches thick. About half of an inch, on each end of the metallic object, had a darker coloration than the rest of it. And, as light as the object was, it was somewhat mesmerizing how the metal seemed to catch and reflect the light from the room.

Within the box was a soft blue material, perhaps velvet. Laced throughout the surface of the interior were small and colorful crystals. Towards one end of the box, some larger gems seemed to filter out any excess light, and reflect it off of the smooth material that comprised the inside of the hatched lid. Where the open lid met the box was a recessed slot, about 3 inches long. The only truly open area within the box was where the device had been resting before General Hammond removed it.

"So, what is it?"

Two sets of eyes rested on Colonel O'Neill, whose intense focus seemed to shift between the object and its container.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Xander seemed to fidget for a moment before finally answering.

"Simplest explanation…it's a communication device." Both men looked at him skeptically. "I suppose a better explanation would be to say that this one of the first devices that integrate technology and magic." That seemed to pique both officers.

"How does it work?"

Xander took the object from Hammond and attempted to answer his question.

"The President sent this to me while I was in Sunnydale trying to decide if I should join up. A friend of mine, who used to work for The Initiative, which I believe you both remember," After receiving nods from both parties, he continued. "He was the one to deliver it and explain how it worked."

Xander took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. A stray thought suddenly struck him of Giles taking off his glasses and cleaning them when faced with a similar situation. Suddenly, much to his amusement and consternation he found himself wishing for a pair of his own glasses.

"There are crystals that have certain spells cast upon them placed within the confines of this cylinder. Between some other, smaller gems, and the properties of this metal, a boosted 'signal' is made to broadcast the spells embedded within the crystals to another one of these objects. There are two main crystals running the length of this thing, one is enspelled to 'transmit' while the other is there to 'receive' a call."

Jack looked between the two other occupants with wide eyes. "Um, just what sort of spell, or spells, were...umm…placed within those crystals?"

Xander couldn't help himself as he smiled in amusement at the child like eagerness in Jack's voice. It was quite refreshing to see the childlike enthusiasm in Jack as he approached anything magical. It was amusing so long as he could see the result of said magic, and so long as it wasn't trying to kill him, or his team.

"It's a spell that allows you to talk to someone mind to mind. Well, you can speak to them as long as they have one of these babies to 'receive' the 'sent' thought. There was, however, a safeguard put into these things. Since there are some upper class demons out there that could easily 'intercept' or listen into a 'call' without the receiving crystal, with the safe guard engaged all that they'd get is a scrambled message, if they could even figure out how to tap into its wavelength." He glanced at both men. "That's another thing. You need to know who you are 'calling' or else their receiving crystal won't activate and they won't hear your call." He shrugged "They figured that would be important. They wouldn't want anyone who had one of these getting every call, or not be able to reach who you wanted to."

Jack had to nod in appreciation. "So, who are we 'calling'?" He wasn't sure he liked the smug smirk the kid couldn't seem to keep from surfacing on his face.

"The President."

"Why don't we have one of these?"

The smirk left his face as Xander faced to answer the General's question and shrugged.

"Riley was trying to impart to me how important it was that I not lose this or break it. However, he laughed at that suggestion because there are apparently spells placed on the metal to make it as close to indestructible as humanly, or inhumanly, possible." He shook his head in consternation. "Besides this thing being insanely expensive it is supposed to be used solely for Class 1 supernatural occurrences meaning E.L.E events" He gave them a strained smile. "The main reason I have one is because I apparently have this predisposition of getting into more trouble than should be humanly possible, and it usually involves the supernatural."

Jack snorted. "Well, they seemed to have you pegged. I guess one out of two isn't bad."

Xander snorted back at the banter. "Please, this was only my first mission, give it a little while." After that, all three men gave a slight shudder. "Anyways, I wasn't sure if you were cleared to know about it, but I figured in a case of emergency, I'd pull it out. Though, once we use it, in all likelihood, the NID will figure out that we have one."

Xander looked up slightly, and simply nodded his head.

"I guess that doesn't matter anymore." He tossed the object to Hammond, who deftly caught it. "Say 'Hi' to The President, General." He gave an encouraging smile to Hammond who was looking at the object like it was extremely fragile. Suddenly, Xander's eyes lit up in hurried remembrance. "Uh, General, this thing is tuned to me, which means it only transmits thoughts I concentrate on sending, you are able to use it because you are physically touching it, but it transmits all of your thoughts, not just the ones you want to send. So, be careful what you think."

It was hard not to laugh at the wide-eyed look Hammond was sending him. For some reason, Jack suddenly found himself troubled with a coughing fit he couldn't quite get under control.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Perhaps the proper reaction to learning that The President of The United States is currently able to 'hear' all of your thoughts is to panic. Once Xander had told him that such was the case, George knew that his heart had skipped a beat or ten. However, one does not become a General by panicking at unusual situations, and if his term at the SGC had been good for anything, it was training him in how to handle 'unusual' situations, perhaps SG-1 more so than anyone with their abilities to piss off advanced races and fight god like beings to a standstill.

Of course, this thought went through his mind in a flash, and just as he came to his conclusion, the sound of light chuckling could be heard, or felt, in the back of his mind.

/Not to worry, George, this can be quite an experience for the newly initiated. And you're right. I've read some of those mission debriefings, the way you've kept your head in some of those situations you've faced, is nothing less than miraculous./

"Um, thank you, Mr. President."

The sound of a light cough brought The General's attention over to Xander.

"He can hear your thoughts, Sir. You don't need to speak out loud." The soft smile on the young man's face did little to alleviate the tension he was feeling, and the smirk Colonel O'Neill couldn't seem to wipe off his face would have to be dealt with at a later time. 'I think some more time with Daniel, 'studying some rocks', will be called for.'

Xander's snickering and the downright laughter from The President brought him back to his current situation. He couldn't quite stop the slight flush from covering his face.

/I think there is a way we can help you out of this predicament, George. Try closing your eyes, it will help you visualize communicating with me, us, and help keep any extraneous thoughts to yourself/

Jack watched as both Xander and General Hammond closed their eyes. Xander still had a slight smile on his face. Jack shook his head. He was glad that the kid was still able to smile, even with all this crap storming up around him. They had a long way to go to get out of the woods, but if anyone could make it, it was his team.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

General Hammond looked around the 'War Room' from his usual seat at the head of the table. To his right was The President, and to the left sat Xander.

Nodding to himself, he thought, "Well, this does feel far more comfortable." he thought. Well imagine his shock when he heard his voice echoing off the walls.

The President, noticing Hammond's expression, was quick to reply. "Yes, this part of the spell makes communication that much easier; so long as you can afford to close your eyes, wherever you may be." After a brief pause he continued. "And don't forget; try to control what you think. You may be able to keep some things to yourself, but you'll find that we all hear most of what you think. And don't worry about reprimands, at least from me, your thoughts are your own, and I won't hold you accountable for anything said, that would normally be left 'unsaid'." It was somewhat unsettling to see The President suddenly smirk in a way that was far too 'Jack O'Neill' for anyone's liking. "Though I'm sure, given enough time, Xander here will be able to have enough ammunition for a decent blackmail."

Xander chuckled quietly while Hammond simply shook his head, yet the room remained silent. The President gave a slight nod of approval at Hammond's quick regain of control at the bizarre situation he found himself in. Hammond decided to ask one, of what had to be a million, questions.

"Do both of you see the 'War Room' as well?"

Both men nodded before The President responded. "That is a side affect of the spell, it takes all those participating and place them in a location that they will all feel comfortable in." A slight nostalgic smile spread across his face. "Believe it or not, the first time I used this device, I was sitting in a bar with an 'old friend' of mine." He nodded to himself as his eyes became much more focused. "Now, what's so important that I'm postponing a meeting with the rest of the Joint Chiefs?

Both men looked alarmed, but The President quickly dismissed their concerns, and soon a full recount of events was told. In the end, The President summed it up well by simply shaking his head while regarding the newest member of SG-1. And the troubles he had gotten into.

"Only you can get into this much trouble on your very first assignment involving gate travel." Xander simply shrugged, not sure what to say. "Don't worry, Son. We'll do right by you, and I'll make sure to chew out the NID on their latest move. I have to admit, I'm impressed by O'Neill's improvisation."

Xander smiled at him. "Should I tell him that he can call you Jack, Sir?"

President Ryan smiled at the young man. "No."

The three men snickered quietly before The President turned his attention back towards Xander.

"Give me 30 minutes, and then place your unit in the receiver within the box. I'll do the same on my end."

Hammond looked somewhat confused as Xander slowly nodded. The President gave him a slight smile as he began to fade away.

He looked over at Xander who simply shrugged at the man and said, "Speaker phone," as he too began to fade from view.

As Hammond opened his eyes, he saw The Colonel with a confused expression on his face. He seemed to glance at Xander, his watch, then looked him right in the eyes while stating.

"Uh, Sir, the both of you have only had your eyes closed for a minute or so."

Hammond looked over at Xander who gave him a familiar shrug before taking the metallic object.

"We were communicating at the speed of thought. From what I was told before, when we were in the 'War Room' we were linked, and the mind can communicate much faster than if we were verbally communicating with each other."

The General had to agree. To him, it had felt like the conversation had lasted for at least an hour, and felt almost wiped out from trying to keep his thoughts to himself, and not say something inadvertently because of a stray thought.

The first few times had been embarrassing enough.

Though, he was pleased to know that The President was going to have another one of these devices issued directly to him. Lord knew how many headaches that would help reduce.


	23. Ch 23

It was almost 30 minutes later and General Hammond found himself surrounded by all of SG-1, sitting in his office, trying to be as patient as possible. A real feat considering Colonel O'Neill was one of the occupants of the room.

It had been almost humorous to watch Jack almost fly out of the room soon after 'the call' had ended. Saying something to the affect of having to stop Carter from running some 'routine computer operations' or something to that affect. He wasn't quite sure what had been said, and decided to leave well enough alone. He'd hate to have to court martial almost half of his flagship team. Not that something similar hadn't happened before, and wouldn't happen again, but why go looking for trouble? Especially considering the company he was keeping.

If it wasn't Colonel O'Neill making some smart assed remark, the fact that both Major Carter, and Dr. Jackson were sitting no less than 10 feet from a device that Xander, and The President, claimed to be made of both technology and magic, had meant that he had literally had to order Carter to balk away from the object placed within a designated slot inside its container. He'd also been very close to asking the ever stoic Jaffa to hold back Dr. Jackson. Hammond assumed it was the lack of sleep and intensity he had been studying the Ancient writings, and ruins that had kept the man in check.

It was in the middle of these musings that Hammond noticed that Xander seemed to nod to himself, and walk over to turn off the light switch. As everyone saw him move, no one doubted what it meant, and got ready to be wowed by their first true bout of magic.

To no one's great surprise, the device did not disappoint.

Xander seemed to turn the receiver on with a mental flick. The device, and its container, did the rest. Everyone within the confines of the room, in its physical entirety, became affected by the spell.

What at first seemed to be a holographic image of the president began to appear to solidify to the point of being opaque. The next thing they noticed was the fact that the small cramped room suddenly was overlapped with an image of the oval office. Soon they were seated in leather chairs or on a leather couch. And damn if they didn't feel real.

O'Neill was the first person to speak in a shocked voice.

"No way, we have our own Holo-deck!"

"Not quite." Everyone's attention became directed at President Ryan.

The military people in the 'room' quickly straightened their posture and presented him with a crisp salute that he quickly returned before walking over to The General and extending his hand.

Hammond, somewhat shakily, accepted the handshake and was somewhat surprised to actually feel the warmth of The President's hand.

"What, how is this happening, Sir?"

The President shrugged. "Magic, or so I'm told. I really don't know the basics behind it, but I've been advised that those who aren't actually in this room, this time that would be everyone but me, should be standing when the spell ends." He motioned for everyone to be seated, and waited for them to do so. "Also, I forgot to mention to clear the area of any obstructions before we started this, so I would recommend that everyone stand up once this is done, and remain where they are until the spell disperses. I'd hate for anyone to hurt themselves falling over furniture that can't be seen at the moment. Keep in mind, your interaction with both myself, and everything in here is due to the spell. In actuality, you are all still in General Hammond's office."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Given most of SG-1's lack of experience with magic, it was fairly understandable why they were looking around the Oval Office with wide eyes. Hell, this sort of magic was even new to Xander.

A polite cough from The President quickly brought everyone's attention to where it should be. Soon enough, once everyone had their wits about them, the meeting started in earnest.

They were quick to recap the little, yet still major, revelations about Xander's 'condition.' Which, by itself, was more than enough to gather The President's interest, however, when Colonel O'Neill went into a recap of the actual mission, President Ryan just sat back with a shocked look on his face.

Finally he just shook his head in disbelief while casting a small smile in Xander's direction. "All of this on your first mission; that has to be some kind of record."

Small chuckles went around the room before The President's face became serious once again.

"So, we have a slight understanding on what this machine did to him." He sent a serious and intense look over at the young man. "Xander, you do realize that, for your own safety, tests will have to be run."

Nodding his head, Xander responded to the pseudo question. "Yeah, I've given that some thought." He shrugged in acceptance. "I figure that we can work something out. But I have no intentions of becoming someone's lab rat." A stray thought caused a major shiver to travel down his spine. "I have no intentions of being 'tested' by someone like Dr. Walsh."

Having extensively read all files of The Initiative that he could get his hands on, The President simply nodded his head in full agreement.

"Do you have any suggestions, or requests?"

Xander cast a quick glance to the rest of his team, ending with General Hammond, before coming to a decision.

"I want either Dr. Frasier or Major Carter present at any test. I think their combined expertise should cover most of the testing anyone would want done."

Carter shook her head. "Xander, honestly, there are so many professionals in the field, who have specific concentrations in certain areas, that to not use them would be almost criminal in my mind."

Taking a deep breath, he relented. "Fine, but I want either yourself or Janet to approve whoever is going to run the test. I really want the majority, if not all, of the testing to be done at the SGC." He paused for a moment before bringing his eyes to rest directly on The President. "I want to be informed of what each test is for, and just what they will be done, how invasive it will be, stuff like that. And most importantly, I want to have the right to say 'No' to any test I don't feel comfortable with."

Silence permeated the artificial environment for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, The President nodded.

"I believe something can be worked out."

Xander blew out a breath of relief. He could feel the flow of tension just easing off of him as one of his worst fears had been allayed. He had no desire to wind up on some doctor's table, about to be dissected, just to see how he worked.

If either Janet, or Major Carter, were to be supervising and explaining just what was going to happen, not that he would actually comprehend what they were telling him, but they wouldn't lie, he knew he could trust them, well, he could easily live with this deal; needles or no needles.

"Do we have any idea why the machine did what it did to him?"

The President's question cut through his musings like a fog horn. Xander glanced off to his side as a tired looking Dr. Jackson met The President's gaze.

"Well, Sir, I haven't really had much time to go over all of the writings we have captured from the ruins located near the Stargate, and the writings that were found inside the chamber within the cave." Trying to get himself in a more comfortable position, he continued. "I do believe that I can make an educated guess, based on what we know of the race we believe to be The Ancients, and the amounts I have been able to translate thus far."

The President nodded his head, indicating for Dr. Jackson to continue.

"Well, from a past mission, where we visited P4X-639, a barren world that housed many ruins with Ancient scripture throughout the surrounding area. We met another archeologist from another world who had been studying the ruins, and an Ancient device, for months before we arrived. Needless to say Malakai, the other archeologist, activated the device, causing both Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c to be caught in a time loop."

Both Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill shared a glance before small, secretive smirks spread across their faces. The Colonel's only widened when caught a glimpse of Carter just off to his side.

"At any rate, we found that the device was supposed to use multiple Stargates, and the solar activity of the planet's sun, to create a sort of time machine. You see, apparently The Ancients were inflicted with some sort of disease. And this was apparently one way that their scientists were trying to go back in time, and rectify the problem before it ever occurred."

Glancing around the false room, and noticing that everyone was following along, he continued.

"Now, while I wasn't…um…around for this, there had been a major discovery at the site of the Antarctic gate. A woman was found buried in the ice, for god knows how long, who was actually able to revive. From the small amount of tests that Dr. Frasier was able to make, she had concluded that this woman was, in fact, an Ancient."

He noted, that while most were nodding along at this point, Colonel O'Neill was beginning to look sick at where he knew this was heading.

"It was soon found out that this woman had the same illness that we believe The Ancients had; the plague that wiped them out. I believe that, from the notes I read, Dr. Frasier believes the illness to cause some sort of aneurism that seemed to be both fatal, and untreatable."

He paused for a second while Jack could be heard mumbling, "And thank you for that little trip down memory lane." Being the diplomat that he was, Daniel simply ignored him.

"Now, like P4X-639, the ruins on this planet talk about the 'great plague' that swept across the Ancients. Within the chamber, the writings found on the metallic surface of the wall seemed to refer to a type of treatment they were trying to use." He sighed, sadly, as he continued. "I'm afraid that, from what I have been able to translate, the treatments were never successful. The machine that changed Xander, it was meant to heal him, and I assume, it was also meant to make him immune from the disease."

Silence once again reigned throughout the room before it was, once again, broken by The President.

"Do we know why it never worked for them?"

Daniel shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "I really need more time for the mass amounts of translating left to do, but from what little I do have, I believe it was something to due with treating the mind."

"Holy Hannah." Amused eyes turned over to where Carter was blushing after her whispered response had apparently been heard. "Sir, sirs, I may be wrong about this; but I believe that our DNA, our genes, are very similar to that of The Ancients." She looked directly at Xander. "Assuming that woman was, in fact, an Ancient, then we would indeed be quite similar." Glancing between General Hammond and The President, she continued. "Xander was injured when he entered what we thought was a cave."

Daniel nodded and added in. "Yeah, he actually took a staff blast that was meant for me." He sent a sheepish smile towards Xander. "Um, thanks again, for that." Xander simply chuckled and nodded.

"I think it might be safe to assume that, since he was injured, it activated the medical device that was designed to cure an Ancient's body, and presumably to immunize them from their plague."

When no one spoke up, she continued.

"Now, from what I saw, the first thing this machine did was to heal any wounds that were on his body, and not just the recent ones. Well, from what I could tell. Now, this is more hypothesizing than anything else, but since this machine is meant to manipulate and cure Ancient DNA, it may have thought that Xander's DNA was simply something it had to 'fix' since our DNA, our genes, are related. It effectively evolved his DNA, his genes, into what it correlated to its template, that being of Ancient DNA."

She had to remember to breathe before she got too far ahead of herself and Colonel O'Neill made some wisecrack comment to get her back on track.

"Now, after this, the machine began to change, alter, or perhaps correct something within his DNA. I really can't tell you what, as this is completely beyond me. But, and please remember this is complete guess work, what if this part of the process was the machine immunizing what it had already 'fixed.'"

After receiving some nods, she continued.

"The final phase Xander underwent was when the machine began to work on his head. I believe it altered the pathways in his brain to what would be considered the template of an Ancient." She held up her hand. "Again, this is all hypothesizing. But since Xander didn't actually have this 'plague' it was able to complete its final stage and immunize his mind from the illness." She glanced over towards Daniel. "It is quite possible that their minds were too complex to take away the disease once it reached their brain, but in Xander's case," She looked back at Xander with a small smile. "In his case, the machine was able to complete its job, and cure its 'Ancient.'"

Xander sat back in his chair and let out a huff. "So, we really believe that The Ancients are related to us as a species, or race, and that the machine actually changed me into one?"

Jack held up his hand. "First of all, yes. And second of all, we'll let Carter and Doctor Frasier tell you all about their thoughts on how The Ancients are related to us, and what it means for evolution. I assure you, it's all very fascinating." He resolutely ignored the minute glare that Carter was trying not to send him while in the presence of both General Hammond and The President of The United States.

Xander just afforded Jack a small smile before acquiescing. "Ok, fine. So, what happens next?"

Gazes were directed between General Hammond and President Ryan before George nodded his head and answered Xander's question.

"I suppose we start with some simple tests that Dr. Frasier and Major Carter can start up. Dr. Jackson can continue with his efforts in translating the ruins and writings from the planet."

George glanced over to The President and received a nod of agreement as Jack piped up with his own response.

"And Teal'c and I will do what we do best."

"I don't even want to know." Interrupted The President, "But I'll start the ball rolling on my end, and have a 'little chat' with certain people, and make sure they know when not to overstep their bounds again." Looking directly at Xander, he continued. "I will do all I can to ensure that they can't and won't do anything like that again."

Xander simply nodded, grateful to have his support.

As the meeting came to a close, the image of the Oval Office began to dissipate. Luckily the members within General Hammond's office took The President's advice and simply stood up from where they had been sitting.

Luckily no one was standing near, or on, the furniture of the small office, though the room seemed quite a bit more crowded than the larger Oval Office. The members of SG-1 smiled at one another, other than Teal'c, who simply lifted an eyebrow, as General Hammond's voice interrupted their musings on the spell they were just encased in.

"Ok, SG-1. You have the rest of today, and tonight, to use for resting, relaxing, and catching up on sleep. Please remember to stay within the SGC, since we are still under quarantine." After a brief pause as they all chuckled, he continued. "I'll go see about getting that lifted." He turned towards Xander before continuing. "I'll talk to Dr. Frasier, but we'll schedule a meeting to discuss what will be done. That will be tomorrow, at 0900." He glanced at the rest of SG-1. "I think you should all be there."

A series of 'Yes Sir,' and 'Indeed' rang throughout the room, before SG-1 made their way out of the room to go and try to get some much needed rest.

General Hammond sighed as he made his way to his own personal room, content in the knowledge that he had quite a healthy supply of extra strength aspirin awaiting his return.


	24. Ch 24

It was amazing just how exhausting life could be, even when you weren't constantly partaking in life and death situations.

It had been a little over a month since Xander, the rest of SG-1, and General Hammond had their 'meeting' with The President; and true to his word, neither the NID nor any other alphabet agency had tried to get their paws on him. The Tok'ra had come and gone, that little episode was thankfully over.

While he was somewhat pleased that the Asgard seemed extremely pleased with whatever readings they had gotten off of his DNA, he couldn't help feeling some dread at just what sort of tests they were going to run. The thought of the obligatory 'alien anal probe' would keep him up at nights, and he had Jack to thank for that smart-assed offhand comment. Though, unlike the Tok'ra, or more precisely, Anise, the Asgard seemed to present a calm and likeable front. Jack had almost made it seem as though Thor was more of a friend than simply an ally. In the end, he just hoped he'd be able to help further reduce the Asgard's problem of cloning degradation.

xxxxxxxxxx

Having Janet and Sam be the only two people in charge of the tests to be run on him seemed to be a great idea at the time. They had quickly sought out specialists to assist them in their tests, but those two would be in charge of any tests that would actually be run. Xander had been especially glad that he had final veto right on any test he didn't want to have conducted on himself.

He should have known from O'Neill's secretive smirk, but those two were out to kill him with all of these tests. He supposed he should be paying closer attention, but after having this done so many times that even the frantic exclamations of 'this can't be possible' coming from the specialists were starting to loose the amusement they once held. Though still, it may be prudent to find out what had this doctor so 'up in arms.'

"I'm not quite sure what this could mean." Dr. Newman seemed to be in deep thought as he, once again, went over the readouts that held the results of scans and tests related to his higher brain functions. "Believe it or not, some aspects of these results are quite normal, but more for an infant than for a man of his age."

Xander was somewhat relieved to find that he wasn't the only one to look confused. Though the specialist looked like a kid in a candy shop, or Daniel with a new artifact.

Janet's eyes suddenly lit up similarly to Dr. Newman's.

"Are you suggesting what I believe you're suggesting?" Dr. Newman waved for her to continue. Turning to look directly at Xander, she did just that. "When a child is very young, even in its infant stage, their ability to gather and retain information is actually quite impressive." She cogitated for a moment. "Think of how a child can learn to speak whatever language their parent speaks. They simply hear the repetition of those around them, and are able to speak shortly thereafter."

"So, what does that mean for Xander?"

Xander nodded to Sam. "Yea, so now I'll be able to read and write in other languages?"

Dr. Newman shook his head. "I doubt so, but I really can't say. Even a child who can speak English may not know how to read or write in the same language. Though learning to do so may be somewhat easier for you. It's hard to tell how a mature mind would assimilate the information different from a child. I do, however, believe that if you were to listen to people speaking a foreign language, you would be able to comprehend just what they are saying much quicker than you normally would. But again, I truly have no basis for a good comparison."

Xander just shrugged, unconcerned. He figured this would just mean more tests, though this time it would be with Daniel, the master of many languages. He just shook his head and allowed himself to drift off as the doctors in the room continued their conversation.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Ancient One, you ready to leave this place?"

Xander couldn't suppress the smile that filtered across his face. Jack had been calling him the 'Ancient One' ever since Daniel had deciphered what the writings from the planet had entailed, and just what had been done to him.

It had been over a month now, and Xander was almost at the end of his rope. He had needed to get out of there, and it seemed as though his prayers were finally being answered.

Being called into Hammond's office was nothing new anymore, though when he got there and saw Jack smiling at him, he knew this was going to be something different than 'business as usual.' He still smiled at the memory of the conversation.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Son, Area 51 has not been having much luck with their efforts to find the out the capabilities of the ancient's ship you piloted into the SGC." Xander was surprised; he hadn't heard anything about the progress related to that particular ship. "After being contacted by a potential ally, we have suddenly found ourselves presented with a situation to not only learn the ship's maneuvering capabilities, but, to an extent, its defensive and offensive capabilities as well."

Xander looked between Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond. "I'm not sure if I follow you, Sir."

"How familiar are you with past missions undertaken by SG-1?"

Xander shrugged. "Well, there are quite a few of them, but they made for good reading."

Hammond nodded, he could sympathize. "We had a visitor just a few days ago. An alien named Warrick. SG-1 first encountered him when he had been forced to crash his ship which was transporting prisoners."

Xander's eyes lit up in recognition. "You mean the Seberus, Sir?"

Hammond nodded. "That would be the one. He arrived a few days ago with a proposition. It seems that there is an important race involving space ships that he is heavily invested in. He has agreed to allow us the chance to study his ion propulsion based engine as payment for one of our naquedah reactors."

Xander smiled and nodded, hoping that SG-1 was going to be allowed to watch this space race. God, it would be great to get off of the base for just a little while. What he wasn't expecting was what The General told him next.

"After further negotiations, it was agreed that we would give him a generator for the chance to study his engine, and in addition to that, we could take our ship to his planet, Hebridan, and allow us the use of a 'training track' to test the capabilities of our ship."

Xander's eyes lit up as he realized where this might be going. "And just what did you need from me, Sir?"

Xander glanced at Jack, noticing the definite smirk that was almost a smile, as Hammond answered. "A pilot, of course."

Xander almost whooped in joy. He was about to fly a space ship on a racetrack. How many times had he fantasized about this?

xxxxxxxxxx

All right, Gate Ship 1, take it nice and easy.

Xander smiled as Jack's voice came over the communications link.

"Understood, Sir."

Just remember, while you're working up there; I'll be relaxing down here enjoying the exciting negotiations taking place…down here.

Xander let out a brief chuckle at the sour tone O'Neill had used. He wasn't too pleased that there wouldn't be anyone accompanying him as he tested the ship. But more to the point, he had really been looking forward to being in the passenger's seat. Now the colonel was stuck doing what he loved best, being diplomatic. Xander couldn't help shuddering.

Carter was on the planet, working with Warrick as she also studied his advanced engines. Daniel was going to accompany O'Neill on the diplomatic aspect of this trip while Teal'c, with the assistance of Warrick's brother, Eamon, would help Xander run this little gauntlet, and let him know what to expect.

He was pulled from the combination of his reverie, and taking in the outside environment of stars, planets, and what looked like small satellites and buoys, by Eamon's voice.

Are you reading me, human?

Xander smiled. "Loud and clear."

Yes, well this first part of the trek will deal with the defensive capabilities of your ship. I have control of the defensive probes and will continue to increase the aggressiveness until I am told to do otherwise.

"Understood, please hold for confirmation of shield activation"

To begin, none of the techs could find any signs of this ship having the capabilities of forming a defensive shield. Some had talked about reverting the energy used to cloak the ship into a viable energy field, but the point was shown to be moot when the Asgard offered to give the ship an Asgard shielding and teleportation for all of the help that Xander had provided.

Xander simply put out a mental command for the shield to activate, and, to his astonishment, a small representation of the gate-ship was displayed enveloped in an oval of energy. With a smile, he re-opened communications.

"Shields are up and running, ready to initiate phase one." As an afterthought, he added, "Please be gentle."

This was only his second time through the gate. He was well aware of the new pool circulating the SGC about just what the results would be from this mission, and just how much time in the infirmary he would need. There was even a rumor that The President was participating once again. Call him an optimist, but Xander had put $100 on him being hospitalized for only a week.

Small yellow dots seemed to shoot out from multiple satellite looking contraptions. As time went on, the yellow bursts shot forth more rapidly as the darkness of the color became intense. After a few minutes of bombardment to such a degree that he was only seeing yellow and the discoloration of his shield, the bombardment stopped.

Your shields are second to none. We may wish to further our negotiations for such technology.

There was clear awe in Eamon's voice. Not that Xander could blame him. If his guess was right, he'd just been hit by the best the Hebridans had to offer, and there had basically been little to no strain on the Asgard shields.

The next stage of this trek will test the speed your engines are capable of achieving. This will take you back towards the planet; your traffic lane is a straight shot, which should result in optimal speed. Good Luck

Xander relayed his thanks as he brought the ship into position. Facing the ship in the opposite direction, he had to squint as his front portal adjusted itself to the light produced from Hebridan's massive sun.

As the tint darkened to a more tolerable level, Xander sent out a mental command for the ship to proceed at the highest velocity possible. His eyes widened as the ship began to veer off the course laid in and head on a vector not quite parallel to the planet.

Gate-ship, Xander, you are veering off course. Please adjust your heading; you are approaching the planets atmosphere

The communications began to show static in spots as Xander tried to relay mental commands for the ship to go on course.

Gate-ship The sound of static disturbed the frantic communication. You must…..I repeat you must….

Xander was going frantic. He had just lost communication with the planet but even worse than that, he was currently moving at speeds in far excess than he believed possible. It was almost as though the planets own gravity was slinging him along, increasing his speed far beyond what his own engines were capable of. All of this, however, flew right out the window, as the display on his view screen changed.

A representation of his ship was shown, and not far off, just between his current position and the planet's sun, a shape was beginning to form. It was cone shaped and seemed to suck into itself. His ship was currently being pulled towards said phenomenon and nothing he did seemed to correct his current path.

At first he had thought, knowing his luck, that he was heading towards some sort of black hole, but once it became visible to him, he realized just how wrong he was. That wasn't a black hole.

It was a wormhole. And not one that was stable, from the looks of it. Not that he was an expert or anything.

Cursing in any and every language that Daniel had been trying to impart on him in the past few weeks, Xander attempted to get himself away from the wobbling opening, but to no avail.

"Ah crap!"

xxxxxxxxxx

Down on the planet, Eamon's frantic calls quickly grabbed the attention of both Carter and Warrick. With a gentle hand on Teal'c's shoulder, the large jaffa moved to the side so that Major Carter could take a place next to the reading that Eamon was receiving.

"He veered off course. He seems to be skimming our atmosphere. He is moving at incredible velocities, more so than I would have ever though possible. But he could quickly wind up in a traffic lane of another ship. He must get his ship back on course."

No matter what they did to adjust their communications, they simply couldn't get their signal through. The ship was moving too damned fast, and the disturbance in the atmosphere was making communication damn neared impossible.

Eamon glanced back at his brother. "You know, Warrick, once we get him back down on the planet, the information from this flight may just give us the advantage we need to win the Loop of Kon Garat."

Warrick simply nodded his agreement as he looked over the extremely impressive speed the small ship was currently going, and still accelerating.

"What is that?"

All eyes snapped to Sam as she quickly began to type in commands into the console she was sitting in front of. A small section of their view screen changed to show the distortion in space and time.

"Gravimetric readings, an electromagnetic shockwave; oh my god, this could conceivably be the beginnings of a wormhole."

Teal'c and Sam shared a look at her statement. Without hesitation, Teal'c activated his radio and called for O'Neill and Dr. Jackson to quickly join them.

By the time Jack and Daniel arrived in the room, an accompaniment of Hebridan's behind them, it was all over. There was no longer any sign of the wormhole, and even worse, there was no sign of Xander and the Gate-Ship.

"What's up campers?" Call him a pessimist, but Jack was getting a really bad feeling from the looks his teammates were sending him. "Oh, for cryin' out loud, what happened?"


	25. Ch 25

It was so beautiful; the swirling vortex of blue and silver seemingly flowing into itself as it made a funnel within itself, fluctuating as it did, it was a thing of beauty. And a beauty of a wormhole, even with the distant voice of Aeryn, telling him that it looked unstable, he still couldn't take his eyes away from the beautiful baby they had just created. He was completely giddy inside. Mama Crichton's baby boy just created a real live wormhole!

John's eyes, dancing with merriment and delight, suddenly widened in alarm. It wasn't even Aeryn's voice telling him to begin evasive maneuvers lest they be pulled in. No, he wasn't sure how he knew this, but something was coming through from the other end.

With speed that bordered on pure instinct, he barely managed to bank his module to the right, as a tubular ship came barreling out. Had it not been for the extremely good reflexes of the 'person' on the other ship, he was fairly sure that they still would have collided.

Using reverse thrusters while forcing his module, with the recent upgrades from Moya, to veer off course from the small craft, he still managed to nick the back edge of the unstable, yet still beautiful, wormhole's event horizon, before returning to back into normal space. The entire module shook as the tail end passed through the proto wormhole, the wormhole itself vanishing into nothingness. Ah, his baby!

John shifted in his seat as he turned to look as far behind him as he could. "Holy crap! Did you see that?" The smile on his face took up almost the entire back seat he was occupying.

"Yes, and I see that, too."

John noted that there was absolutely no happiness in Aeryn's voice, in fact, if he wasn't mistaken, she sounded down right pissed. However, he didn't really have time to dwell on her current state of mind, or just how badly she wanted to throttle him, and not in a nice way, as he noticed the small craft, shaped like a cylinder, not to far away from them. It was the ship that had almost collided with them, the ship that came out of his baby.

The thought that he might be partially, if not fully, responsible for creating the wormhole that had apparently sucked an innocent craft into, what seemed to him to be, hostile territory, did quite a bit to wear away some of that happiness. Not all of his happiness, mind you. After all, he did just create a wormhole!

Flipping a few switches, he turned on his short range communications array.

Um, unidentified…ship. John shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably, not quite sure how to make first contact in this situation, and that was assuming that they could understand his language. Not everyone was blessed with translator microbes. Ah, is everyone ok over there? Even though he couldn't see her, he was sure Aeryn was rolling her eyes at him.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The ship seemed to lurch forward into the event horizon of the wormhole. No matter what he did, no matter what mental commands he gave, the damn thing just seemed to get sucked in.

Once inside, he was half expecting for his body to be broken down, like it had been those two times he had gone through the gate. But that certainly wasn't the case this time.

Just before the final lurch, a small portion of the screen on the front portal lit up, before a brief harmonic humming enveloped the ship. Outside the ship he could see a faint bubble of purple envelope the ship before either fading away, or simply becoming transparent. Before he knew what was really happening, his ship was actually seemingly steering its way through the wormhole. No breakdown of molecules. He could see, through his peripheral vision, that everything was fully intact. He dared not to move his head; he had this strange sensation that the ship, while seemingly piloting itself, was taking its cues from him. That was something he hoped was patently false, since he had no frickin' clue what he was doing, or supposed to be doing. But the ship just continued to glide through the tunnel.

To make matters worse, at least in his mind, was that this wasn't one long straight tunnel, it seemed as though there were a thousand different routes the ship could travel down at any given second. Even worse was the fact that you really couldn't tell that there was another route you could take until you had taken it, or bypassed it. He was feeling so lost, and he wasn't even out of the damn thing yet.

Then, his current prayers seemed to be answered. There, but a short distance in front of him, was the end of this tunnel. But, God Damn, if there wasn't a small white ship blocking his exit.

He never even had time to touch his controls before the ship veered just off to the side, thrusting him further into his seat, as it automatically adjusted its exit from the wormhole, so as to not collide with the small vessel.

Once they were outside of the wormhole the ship seemed to stop its forward momentum and just drift in space. That was something he was glad about, since moments before entering the wormhole, while he was screaming, the ship was trying to fly at the fastest speeds possible, up to the point of actually entering the damn wormhole.

The ship seemed to pivot on itself. As it slowly rotated, a large sun could be seen coming into view. It was large, and seemed quite active. Something that was quickly confirmed as the damn thing flared. The shields surrounding the ship became visible for a moment; he hoped that meant they were protecting him from any radiation that damn sun was giving off. While, at the same time, the front view port darkened considerable; something he was quite grateful for.

As the ship continued its rotation, he took notice of the planet in front of, or perhaps below, him. The planet appeared to be mostly desert, not all too shocking considering how close to the sun it was. He wasn't quite sure what it would be like down there, should he be forced to land, but he doubted he'd enjoy relocating to a desert planet.

The final thing his eyes came to settle on, just a moment after he noted that the wormhole that had brought him here was no longer around, or perhaps visible, he wasn't quite listening as well as he thought he had when Carter had tried to explain wormhole physics to him, was the small craft he had almost hit.

It was small, almost unassuming. Though, from the detail his front view port was showing him, it almost reminded him of the shuttles you saw in the movies or in clips about NASA. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. However, he was fairly certain that none of the clips he saw had included a cloud of something resembling smoke coming from the side of the craft.

However, before he could really ponder that, the front console beeped at him once before a man's voice could be heard. Not just a man's voice, but a man who was speaking English. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

Um, unidentified…ship; Ah, is everyone ok over there?

Xander wanted to roll his eyes at the question, but decided just to try and answer. He had never really figured out how to use the communications on this ship, it was more of a 'think it; do it' relationship.

"Yea, I think I'm all right." He couldn't help but to shrug to himself. "Just a little shook up, I guess." A few moments later the same voice could be heard, and he was pleased to hear that, whoever it was, seemed to be genuinely relieved. Though, he wasn't sure if it was just about him being ok. He could tell that the man was about to say something, but Xander really didn't like how that ship was leaking something, so he interrupted. "As I said, I think I'm ok, and my ship doesn't seem to be malfunctioning," 'Not that I'd really know if it was.' He told himself. "And while I'm no expert on space crafts, I don't think they're supposed to be leaking like yours is."

Another voice, female this time, came on the line. Now this woman was definitely not speaking English. Hell, she wasn't speaking anything remotely resembling anything he had ever heard for human languages. Not that he knew them all, but her voice seemed to fade in and out at odd places, and stop altogether where it had no business stopping. All in all, it had a completely alien feel to it.

To make matters worse, while he couldn't understand a word, assuming that those were words, he could understand tones, and she was getting progressively more upset, most likely at him, and he wasn't even sure what he did. Finally the English speaking guy came back on the line.

Are you not receiving us? Did you not get it?

Xander shook his head in consternation. "Get what? I couldn't understand a word she was saying!"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

John hit the communications switch a bit harder than he intended when he heard the reply that the other man had made. He and Aeryn shared a glance.

"He understands you, but not me?" She motioned out towards the other ship, and in a curious tone, she continued. "You don't think he is from your home world, do you?"

John shook his head. "As far as I know, Earth has nowhere near the technological know-how to build a ship like that. Small as it is, that ship, and those engines, while somewhat 'star trek' are way beyond us."

"Then what do you think?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure." Then he flicked the communications array back on.

This may sound like a dumb question, but what language are you speaking?

A short moment passed before he received a reply. English, well, bad English if you want to be specific.

John flipped the switch again before focusing on his passenger.

"Aeryn, could my translator microbes be translating what he said into English; while he's actually saying something else?"

She simply shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose it is possible." She glanced at some flashing lights on her own control panel. "However, now is not the time, we need to contact Moya, and find out if we are indeed leaking plasma coolant on our starboard side, else this control panel is frelled."

After quickly communicating with the other ship and informing the man, Xander, as he had been asked to be called, that he was going to contact his own ship to see how bad his damage was, Aeryn contacted Moya.

John had been less than pleased with the unenthusiastic response he had received about creating his very own wormhole. He had been just about livid when they had told him he was going to have to trash his module because of the leak.

Granted there was no way in hell he would take his beloved module back aboard Moya if there was even the slightest chance of it harming her still developing child. However, when he had informed them that he was taking his module to the mechanic, Furlow, who Rygel had contacted before he and Aeryn had left on this little excursion, just to have D'Argo forbid him from doing so, well that had almost made him laugh. Instead, he had opted to simply call D'Argo a pain in the ass, and he'd be lying if he said that it hadn't felt good.

Hey Xander, you were right. Our ship is damaged. We're going to take it down to the planet where a mechanic can fix her up for us. How about if we meet you down there and figure out what to do next?

He didn't need to wait long for the reply.

Well, seeing as how I'm not in Kansas anymore, I suppose it can't hurt to follow the locals. Just lead the way; I'll try to keep up.

John paused for a moment before confirming. 'Not in Kansas anymore.' That made him pause, because that was definitely one of his expressions. He shook his head, putting it off until they actually reached the planet.

He was brought out of his musings as he caught site of Aeryn flicking off the long range communications link with just a little more force than was necessary.

"Aeryn," He asked in an unsure voice. "You are with me on this; aren't you?"

"Oh, now you think to ask?"

From the tone of her voice, and the tenseness he could feel radiating off of her, he was sure that the opposite was most likely true. He tried to make peace with her, to no avail. He told her that he needed her help, which he always did, she even said so. And what was worse, he knew, no matter what happened, he was winding up in the doghouse on this one

With all that was bound to happen once they got planet side, the fact that he may be meeting with another person from Earth, granted they were flying in tech that the Earth simply shouldn't have, at least not in the time period where he had left, he wasn't quite sure what to think. Beyond that, he still needed to get his ship fixed, somehow pay for it, and go over the data his module recorded.

He really didn't need all of this.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Aboard the gate-ship, Xander mentally commanded the ship to follow the small ship in front of him, trail of plasma smoke and all, towards the outer atmosphere of the desert planet.

He had no clue how to proceed from here. However, he was extremely glad that Colonel O'Neill had made him take extra provisions of what Jack had thought as a necessity. And seeing as how Jack knew Xander, well, at least he thought he knew Xander, there was quite a bit there.

Landing the craft on the desert planet proved to be no problem. Making sure his supplies were not damaged, and placing a zat in its thigh holster, he sighed as he got ready to disembark from his ship.

A chirruping sound from the console, and a whizzing sound as the door to the side compartment, the same compartment that had provided him with those life sign detectors that seemed linked to the ship, opened.

Pulling out what was inside the console, he looked at the thin band that looked like a headband. Shrugging to himself, he placed it around his forehead before placing his military issue soft-visor cap back on. His eyes shot up as the front portal went back to its usual state of shaded translucency. He also noted, with a small smile, that while another solar flare seemed to come about, beyond a slight amount of more visible light, there had basically been no other side effects.

He shook his head; he loved the marvels this ship could produce. Though, he was still sure that it somehow had to be possible to make it create a Twinkie, well he would take what he could get.

He laughed to himself. "You know, if you could give me a remote for your shields and cloak and stuff, I'd be grateful."

While he hadn't actually expected anything to happen, he had been pleasantly surprised by the same whizzing sounds as before. The compartment slid open once more. This time, within the compartment, was something that looked like half of an egg. It was small and fit in the palm of his hand.

He walked out of the ship. With the remote in his hand, he mentally willed the shields to activate, not wanting to show anyone that he had a cloak on the ship just yet, but he wasn't risking anyone getting inside his ship, for that, he'd let them know he had shielding.

Not too far off in the distance he could see a man and a woman approach him. They looked to be utterly human, though he was fairly sure that the woman had sounded entirely alien while they had been communicating back and forth before coming here. They were both wearing a pair of goggles, the man holding another set, which made them look ridiculous when they got close enough that he could see them.

However, on the chance that this guy, who had the largest shit-eating grin he had seen in quite a while, was the guy he had been talking to, he decided that laughing at them would not go over well, and schooled his features. Only a slight smile graced his face, while he tried to show a cool façade. It was a smile that grew quite a bit, as he heard the other man speak.

It was him. Now it was time to figure out what was going on and perhaps on how to get him and his ship back home.

Little did Xander know, that those same desires were held by the other man, and a certain holographic beacon, proclaiming the bounty of three escaped prisoners, was about to make their stay on this planet, just a bit more interesting.


End file.
